With the days lengthening and the soil warming; growth, especially in herbaceous plants, is shooting away. Helleborus vesicarius is looking promising with flowers colouring optimistically. Opening green these squat cylindrical flowers slowly develop a wide mauve red band on the petals, drooping down to face the ground.

Found in localised clusters amongst Juniperus sp. in SE Turkey where it grows in limestone rock on dry steep exposed hillsides. Summers in these areas are dry and the plant dies back to below ground; shooting out again in November as the rains come.

Keep an eye on the development of any seed pods; these are unusual as they inflate during development. As the foliage dries up during the summer dormancy these brown pods are broken away from the remains of the foliage and disperse further from the parent plant.

Helleborus vesicarius

Helleborus vesicarius