I received 2 hellebores, shipped from Spring Hill. One appeared wilted with brown leaves, while the other appeared healthy. I have included pictures of just the sick one, as well as both side by side for comparison. I contacted them and they immediately shipped out a replacement free of charge. Does anyone with hellebore experience have any thoughts as to the survival prospects of the sickly plant? Or thoughts as to what might be wrong with it? Thanks!
Did the sickly one arrive looking that way? It almost looks like either last year's leaves or over-watered/over-fertilized in the pot or too much sun for a young plant. I wouldn't give them any food except for maybe a top-dressing of a good compost (1/2 to 1" deep, not touching the stems) and let it go for the winter and see what happens in the spring. Spring Hill has cheap prices but their plant quality/size is sometimes questionable. Will they replace them if they don't come back in the spring?
Thanks for your suggestions Cindy! It did arrive looking that way. Also, both plants were so root bound I had to cut the pot away. I did plant it exactly as you suggested thankfully. They have already sent a replacement free of charge, so hopefully it will show up in better shape!
Thanks Cindy! I did my best, but the roots didn't loosen up very much. I really hope they make it. I am excited to add some hellebores to my garden, and at $25 each, I had high hopes.!
Next time you want to order plants you might want to check out DG watchdog. You can look at Spring Hill's rating and see why Cindy had concerns.
Your discription of the plants being so root bound leads me to believe they are from this Spring, if so I would think they would on the sale rack.
Sadly, hellebores are expensive but it would seem that even $25 for a fall sale purchase is still pretty expensive. At that price, they should have arrived in perfect condition. Do keep them well-watered until frost/freeze to hopefully encourage their roots to spread a bit. You could also mulch with some shredded fall leaves to keep the ground warm a little bit longer so that they have time to get established. Don't use wood mulch as you never know what diseases you might bring in. If you don't have leaves, you could use some straw but only while your babies are settling in.
Thank you both for the advice Lisa and Cindy! Great suggestions! I will follow them and keep my fingers crossed.
Caitlinn
Next year check out bluestone perennials....they send nice plants and often have specials/sales on a huge variety of plants. Checkout the feedback for them on watchdog as well. The only suggestion I have for their plants is removing from g he coir plants when you plant them in yr garden. They will also let you make several orders (in you can order specials that you want) and ship all together at a specific ship date. I just received a hellebore I ordered on sale from them (along with other plants) I believe I paid $7 and can't wait for next yr's blooms
I also highly recommend Santa Rosa gardens.
