Winter-blooming hellebores deserve their own show.

Byline: GARDENING By Sarah Robertson The Register-Guard

In the fading light of a February afternoon, nodding heads of richly hued hellebore blossoms dance atop sturdy stems.

These flirty blooms, enhanced by dramatic evergreen foliage, are favored by many discerning gardeners. Marietta and Ernie O'Byrne, owners of Northwest Garden Nursery in Eugene, are so smitten with this unique perennial that they hold a special open garden every year specifically to showcase the variety of glorious (and often already blooming) hellebores waiting to be discovered.

This year's open garden will be from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday and on Feb. 25-27 and March 4-6. The nursery, 86813 Central Road, coexists alongside the O'Byrne's home and is surrounded by astonishingly lovely beds and borders that have been photographed for magazines both in this country and abroad.

Some may question the sanity of giving top billing to a single plant over three different weekends. What on Earth is so special about a hellebore?

Marietta O'Byrne laughs with delight at the question.

`Who can resist a plant that begins flowering in January or February?' she says. `Or whose blooms come in so many amazing colors, form and sizes?'

The O'Byrnes have become world-renowned for their unique plant introductions, many of them in the family of Helleborus. They're self-confessed `obsessed' gardeners who use their breeding opportunities to stretch the possibilities and bring something entirely fresh to the mix.

Marietta says the best reason for loving hellebores is their overall usefulness. Not only do they bloom during a period when not much else is showing, they're evergreen, poisonous to deer and almost indestructible.

`Moles ignore their roots, they have few problems with disease and they're extremely drought tolerant,' Marietta says. `There just aren't many plants with those kinds of attributes.'

Hellebores can take a range of conditions, but most cultivars and species have a certain type of environment that they prefer. Marietta always asks customers to first consider where they'll be planting their hellebores before choosing a specific cultivar or species.

`We're always here to answer questions and steer people in the right direction,' she says.

But it's the hellebore's gift of opening flowers so darn early in the season that seduces most folks. And in just the past few years, the range of available colors has expanded dramatically. There are crisp, eye-pleasing stripes, luscious ruby reds, smoky purples, clear yellows and so much more. Quite a shift from the muddy brownish-reds of just a decade earlier.

A couple of years ago, the O'Byrnes received permission from two nurseries in Britain to cull through their stock plants and select a few to take home.

They then bred these against other types to create progeny that are now ready to go home with eager customers.

`This type of culling allows us to develop our own strains, which are all a bit different and wonderful in their own right,' Marietta says. `We select the best, and then breed from that. The results reflect our personal taste and the things we happen to like in hellebores: great foliage, rich colors, rounded petals, longer-lasting flowers and pest resistance.'

Which brings us to Marietta's one hellebore nemesis: snails.

`Oh my gosh, they're just awful,' she says. But keeping a clean garden can greatly improve matters. `Overwintering snails can generate umpteen babies if left to reproduce,' she says. A combination of different kinds of slug-snail bait, cleanup and hand picking keeps the pests from becoming too destructive, but it's a constant battle.

Here are a few of Marietta's favorite hellebores:

Helleborus foetidus `Red Silver': This one, developed by the O'Byrnes, is garnering raves from discerning plant experts for its very narrow, slightly toothed foliage that's cast with a lovely silvery sheen.

`I use `Red Silver' as my designer plant,' Marietta says. `The silvery, shimmery foliage is at its best during October, November and December. Our weather at that time is often foggy and misty, yet here are these metallic, silvery structural elements making such a statement. I really enjoy seeing them looking so terrific in the dead of winter.'

This hardy cultivar is believed to be a cross between `Sopron' and `Wester Flisk.' It grows about 2 feet tall and wide, and is both drought and snail proof (thanks to its thick, serrated-edged foliage). It also breeds true from seed if not grown directly alongside another H. foetidus cultivar.

Marietta prefers to use `Red Silver' in groupings, and says the plants are best in full sun. The individual flowers appear in spring and are produced in umbels: cream with a distinctive circle of red at the base.

Like others within this family, `Red Silver' hellebores are most beautiful in their youth. But because they tend to send out side-shoot reproductions, the show can proceed indefinitely.

`After about three years, I simply remove the oldest plant,' Marietta says. A few flowers left to seed ensures longevity.

Helleborus x hybridus: Marietta's favorite grouping of clump-forming types are perennial hybrids of many different hellebore species and cultivars.

`They've been crossed in so many ways to get that amazing range of flower color, petal form and evergreen foliage,' she says. `New cultivars come out so quickly - I can hardly believe the dramatic changes that have taken place in the past few years alone.'

She hesitates to name specific cultivars, since their cultural needs can vary dramatically. But she encourages gardeners to visit nurseries, and also settings where named plants are planted out - such as public gardens or nursery landscapes.

Marietta says that even novice hellebore growers are sure to be captivated by these user-friendly hybrids.

`They can take clay soil, sandy soil, drought, some can take full sun - they're just very adaptable,' she says. `Their color range is terrific, the foliage is great - there is just much to love about these plants.'

Helleborus nigercors: This species is the result of crosses made between H. niger (also known as the Christmas rose) and H. argutifolius (formerly known as the Corsican hellebore).

The result is a charming hellebore that covers itself with bunches of creamy-white, long-lasting flowers in early spring.

`It's like looking at a huge bouquet,' Marietta says. `There's no color variation, so it's extremely reliable and very lovely.'

Plants are compact, eventually reaching about 14 inches tall. They are sterile, adapt to full sun, very long lived and expand slowly over time to form dramatic clumps. Leaves are glossy green with interesting, saw-toothed edges.

This particular plant is now being successfully propagated through tissue culture, making it both affordable and available in quantity.

Helleborus x sternii: Another cross between H. lividus and H. argutifolius, with similar flowers that have the added touch of maroon on the outside. Leaves can have silvery veins, depending on the breeding. Marietta is currently working to produce plants that are short, stocky and non-floppy.

`They're great in full sun, they make a great foliage plant and they're terrific in mass plantings,' Marietta says. `All they really need is good drainage.'

Helleborus multifidus subsp. hercegovinus: Forget the flower - it's the foliage that makes this plant worth the wait. Mid-green, long (to 9 inches) basal leaves, each with 45 to 70 linear, toothed, prominently veined segments that are hairy beneath.

`It takes about four years to develop that gorgeous foliage,' Marietta says. `Definitely worth the wait.'

Blooms have traditionally been green, but the O'Byrnes are working on some crosses that have a lot more purple showing on the outside. They'll know in a few years what they have.

Sarah Robertson of Eugene writes a weekly gardening column.