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Foetid Hellebore

Foetid Hellebore

HELLEBORUS foetidus

Blooms Spring
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Ships as 4"
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Common Name(s)
Foetid Hellebore
Sunlight
Partial Sun / Shade (3-6 hrs) or Full Shade (0-3 hrs)
Watering
Let dry
Max Height
1'–2'
Max Spread
Over 24"
Special Features
Deer resistant
Garden Design Role
Underplanting
Bloom Season
Spring
Lifespan
Perennial
Growing Habit
Mounding, Bushy, Clumping
Drought Resistance
Moderate drought resistance
Bloom Color
Green, White
Foliage Color
Green
Stem Color
Green, Purple/Black
Genus
Helleborus
Family
Ranunculaceae
Ship Size
4"

Foetid Hellebore holds a dark, deeply cut evergreen rosette all year, then lifts clusters of pale green bell-shaped flowers, often rimmed in purple, when the rest of the garden is still asleep. This is a live 4-inch plant of Helleborus foetidus, upright and architectural from the start.

Its job is the shady ground under shrubs and along woodland-style borders, where the leaf texture carries the planting for eleven months and the winter flowers carry it for the twelfth. Deer leave it alone, it stays structured without staking, and it needs only cool shelter and soil that is lightly moist but never sodden. Wear gloves when you cut back old leaves — the sap can irritate skin.

Fun fact: The unflattering species name refers to the crushed foliage, not the flowers, which are perfectly pleasant — the plant only smells if you handle it roughly.

  • Sunlight: Full Shade (0-3 hrs) or Partial Sun / Shade (3-6 hrs)
  • Water: Keep moist
  • Mature Size: 1'–2' tall × over 24" wide
  • Bloom Season: Spring
  • Lifespan: Perennial
  • Hardiness Zones: 5–9
  • Attracts: Bees
  • Special: Deer resistant

It leaves us established and well rooted, and it arrives healthy or we replace it free.