For those who love hellebores, Ernie and Marietta O'Byrne—and their Northwest Garden Nursery—are legends. They are the plant breeders behind the Winter Jewels collection (read about their plants and process here). On March 11th I visited their nursery and garden (they live on site) and even was allowed to walk through the breeding program greenhouses—plants not for sale. Today I'm sharing some of the hellebore photos I took, Friday I'll share pictures of the garden.![]()
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This combination really spoke to me...
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Onyx Odyssey
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Golden Lotus
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Apricot Blush
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Cherry Blossom
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Sun Flare
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Picotee Pearl
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Golden Sunrise
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Another Cherry Blossom
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There's Pam, my partner in crime for the day (and chauffeur)...
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A few NOIDS that were too lovely not to share (meaning I didn't catch the ID, the O'Byrnes definitely know what they are). I think this one might be Peppermint Ice...
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Here's what I went home with. First up this hellebore seedling dug right from the garden by Marietta, a selection of Helleborus foetidus with nice dark foliage and stems.
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And Peppermint Ice, one of their Winter Jewels—if this looks familiar it's because I shared it in my Bloomday post on the 15th. If you look to the left of the big bright bloom you can see the backside of the petals are dark, the white only showing up on the front of the flower.
This is Jade Tiger—which looks very different from my Jade Tiger purchased in 2014. Mine is similar to the original shown on their "about our hellebores page", and this is the improved.
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