Me corsican hellebores keep collapsing on me! Help!

[shovetheholly]

I have some of those large corsican hellebores, with grey foliage and green flowers in my silver garden.

They looked lovely last year, but they've since bulked up (much like me, alas). They should be in their prime but they are flopping everywhere and looking really untidy. (Also like me, oh woe).

In the next few weeks, I'll cut back the old flowers and let the new growth come through. How can I support them so they do a bit better next year? I don't think those circular supports on stakes will work - they're the wrong shape. They are in a really prominent place, so I need a solution that looks a bit tidy. Any ideas?

are they too dry?

No, sorry I should have said - they are fine, growing in very wet soil. They've just done a bit too well (not me, they just seem to love the conditions here - even in unloved municipal plantings they are spectacular) - they're now huge and the flowers are big and heavy, so gravity takes over and they flop.

Perhaps the wet soil has made them too lush. Can you support the new stems with twiggy sticks or discretely loop them with green garden string so they support each other?

Yes, I could do that. I think I probably need to spend a bit of time supporting each stem individually to get something that avoids being unsightly. I was hoping for a lazy easy win, but I reckon it'll be worth the effort

We used to have lots of them, and Yes, they do tend to flop. They also self-seed, which was why we had so many at one time; got rid of them all though, now have a little black flowered hellebore.

I think if you looked on a dedicated hellebore site, you will find 'better behaved' ones. But they are only going to be at their best for a limited time in Spring anyway, aren't they?

If you want 'silver' this is a nice plant. We also have a few of these, but nothing like as impressive as they look here:

www.esveld.nl/htmldiaen/p/pumaje.php

I've never heard of Corsican Hellebores, now I will have to google. But as your description of them sums me up too, I now feel i should change my user name to "CorsicanHellebore".......

Glad it's not just me, Vix!

Ferguson - that pulmonaria is stunning. I just have to get myself some! I have some of another variety from my Dad (not sure of the variety, therefore, flowers are both pink and blue, leaves are quite brightly spotted with white) and it grows brilliantly, so I reckon 'majesty' will do well too. If you have any other silvery shade ideas, please do let me know! (I am about to plant brunnera 'Jack Frost').

I do have other hellebores elsewhere in the garden, including some of the stunning new doubles from Hugh Nunn. In fact, I'm becoming a bit of an addict. It's an expensive habit, though, so I'm restricting myself to one or two a year.

Many pulmonaria have the pink/blue flowers, and I think Majestee does too. We also have a pure white, and a dark blue Blue Ensign, has dark green leaves.

But don't be too disappointed if Majestee fails to match the picture!

I don't know if Sissinghurst provide a guide anywhere to their famous white/silver garden.

I went to Sissinghurst for the first time last year - it was terrific and very inspiring. Not in the white garden, but I was particularly struck by the way they are growing roses, in arching crown forms. I haven't seen them done this way before - it looked great.

OP - Forty years ago we were privileged to spend a few weeks 'working holiday' living in the South Cottage, Sissinghurst, an incredible and treasured experience.

Wow! What an experience! It must have been absolutely amazing to see and work in the gardens up close, and to really get a feel for them. I often regret that I can only see amazing gardens in snapshot on a day out, when really the pinnacle of the art is the succession and the seasonal change. I can't really afford to go back and back, and even if I did it wouldn't be the same as seeing it day in, day out. To witness that happening must have been incredible.

Although we did have the run of the garden, it wasn't 'gardening' work; we were 'sitting' the owner's baby and little dog! Literary enthusiasts used to look in the window, to see where Vita had done her writing.

I am so jealous! WOW!