Helleborus Frostkiss Anna’s Red Hellebore

Genus:Helleborus
Species:x hybridus
Variety:’ABCRD02′
ppaf:PP24720
Item Form:2-Quart
Zone:5 – 8
Bloom Start to End:Early Winter – Early Spring
Habit:Mound-shaped
Height:18 in
Width:18 in
Additional Characteristics:Easy Care Plants,Flower
Bloom Color:Dark Red
Foliage Color:Variegated
Light Requirements:Shade,Part Shade
Moisture Requirements:Moist, well-drained
Resistance:Cold Hardy,Deer Resistance
Soil Tolerance:Normal, loamy
Uses:Beds,Containers,Winter Interest,Border

Helleborus Frostkiss Anna’s Red Hellebore is an evergreen perennial offering year-round interest. Heavy blooming from winter through early spring, Anna’s Red sets deep-burgundy flowers borne on long, sturdy deep-red stems held above lush, marbled foliage, which emerges bronze-green with bright pink veins in spring, maturing to cream variegation. The nodding to outward-facing flowers last a long time and make cute kitchen table bouquets or lovely additions to cut floral arrangements. Nectar rich, the flowers offer emerging bees an essential early food source.

A Helleborus hybrid, commonly called Lenten rose or hellebore, Frostkiss Anna’s Red is an herbaceous plant with vigorous growth and an upright, mounding habit. Shown to best effect when massed or grouped in beds, borders, and patio pots, the plant also makes a lovely ground cover and will naturalize, slowly spreading via rhizomatous roots. It also self-seeds in ideal growing conditions but will not become invasive. It’s ideal for planting under a high-branched deciduous tree or large shrub, protected from strong winter winds.

Cold hardy, easy to grow, and low maintenance, hellebore grows best in dappled shade locations with organically rich, moist, well-draining soil, having a neutral to alkaline pH. However, it grows well in most soils, including chalk, clay, and loam, and in most growing conditions. The plant is drought tolerant once established, but it will not tolerate extremely wet, waterlogged soils. It is deer and rabbit resistant. In mild summer climates, the hellebores in the Frostkiss series grow well in full sun if the roots are kept cool.