Honeymoon® Rio Carnival Lenten Rose

Light Needs

Full Shade to Partial Shade

(0 - 4 Hours Of Direct Sunlight)

Mature Height

1.5-2 Feet

Mature Spread

1.5-2 Feet

Growing Zones

4 to 9

Greet each new spring with this lovely Lenten rose, often the first flower to open after winter. A must-have beauty for the shade garden, it has large, light-yellow blooms that are heavily speckled with burgundy. Part of the single-flowered selection of hellebores, its long blooming period appears extended because green, petal-like sepals create interest for a long time. Rugged and easy to grow, this showy Lenten rose is 18-24 inches high. It is a long-living plant that will spread easily.

An evergreen, it has an upright and clump-forming growth habit. It resists deer, voles and rabbits while providing nectar for early bees that appear after mild winters. Hellebores are natives of Europe and indigenous from Slovenia to Macedonia. They are perfect plants for woodland gardens. Naturalize them in moist, wooded areas, or grow them on hillsides and slopes. Plant them with ferns, tiarella, hosta, and pulmonaria. Use them in the border, for example near your kitchen window where they can remind you that spring is here. They are suitable for growing in containers, acting as a filler in combination pots. Cut the flowers and place them in vases, or float blooms in a shallow bowl of water.

Honeymoon® Rio Carnival Lenten Rose Care

Locate your hellebores under a tree or in another shady spot. Prepare the soil well and deeply – don’t add too much compost to prevent rot from occurring. They don’t like to be planted too deep – keep the crowns (where the stems join the roots) at soil level. They like moist, well-drained sites. Water the plants well during extended dry periods. Lightly apply a granular, balanced fertilizer in early spring, or side-dress with compost. Plant them in average or fertile soil that is alkaline or neutral. Add lime to acid soil in fall if needed.

Prune back dead and ugly foliage before new growth in the spring. Remove old stems at that time. Groom the plants as required during the growing season. Before winter, you may add a light layer of mulch for protection if you wish. You will probably need to protect plants grown in containers.

Honeymoon® Rio Carnival Lenten Rose Spacing

Space your plants 18-24 inches apart. Clumps will get larger slowly, through seedlings not rhizomes.