Helleborus Frostkiss® Glenda's Gloss®

An evergreen perennial, Glenda's Gloss®, a part of the Frostkiss® series, offers color and texture to the garden, year-round. It's a little taller than the average in the series and one of the first in the series to bloom, setting clusters of light greenish white flowers with magenta margins freely and continuously starting in winter. Borne on strong, deep-red stems, they rise above a basal rosette of smooth, shiny, leathery leaves that have delicate, cream-colored variegation. Long lasting and nectar rich, the flowers endure in cut-flower bouquets or in the garden, where they provide early emerging bees with a critical food source.

Glenda's Gloss is a Helleborus hybrid, commonly called hellebore or Lenten rose. It has moderate to vigorous growth and an upright, mounding habit that's flexible in the garden. Glenda's Gloss makes a lovely specimen in garden or container but shows to best effect when massed or grouped in beds and borders. And since the plant slowly spreads through rhizomatous roots—without becoming invasive—it makes a great ground cover and is ideal for planting beneath high-branched deciduous trees or large shrubs, where it's protected from winter winds.

Easy to grow and low maintenance, Glenda's Gloss hellebore grows best in a location with dappled shade, but in mild summer climates, Frostkiss hellebores will also flourish in full sun as long as their roots are kept cool. The plant thrives in diverse growing conditions and adapts to various soils, including chalk, clay, and loam, but will not tolerate extremely wet, waterlogged soils. For best results, choose rich, moist, freely draining soil with a neutral to alkaline pH. The plant tolerates drought once established and resist damage from deer and rabbits.

Helleborus are early blooming evergreen perennials with nodding flowers that delight in your winter garden. Follow our expert's advice on Hellebore Planting and Care and learn more about these long-lived plants in our blog All About Hellebores.