Veratrum nigrum
Black false hellebore, European black hellebore
- Height × spread
- 1.8m × 0.6m
- Position
- Tolerates full sun, likes part shade, likes light shade
- Hardiness
- Very cold to -20C (RHS H6)
- Flowers
- Summer
Availability
Please ask in store about availability
Many plants are seasonal. Call 01234 567890 to check current stock.
About this plant
This is a very beautiful plant if the slugs don't munch it away. It has great, oblong, light green leaves with pointed tips, heavily ridged so that they look like painted corrugated paper. The chocolate-purple flowers, in late summer or autumn are borne in plumes. They are scented, but the scent is one of those questionable ones and almost too sickly sweet for some people. After flowering, its seeds seem to hang in the air and have their own beauty.
- Flower colour
- Purple
- Foliage colour
- Green
- Variegated
- No
- Scent
- Yes, sickly
- Shape
- Cone
- Height
- 1.8m
- Spread
- 0.6m
- Season of interest
- Spring, Summer
- Flowers in
- Summer
- Evergreen
- Deciduous
- Garden style
- Wild flower meadow, Scented garden, Prairie garden, Cottage garden
- Sun or shade
- Tolerates full sun, likes part shade, likes light shade
- Soil type
- Chalk, Clay, Loam (normal)
- Soil pH
- All types
- Drainage
- Moisture retentive soil, Damp and wet soil
- Hardiness
- Very cold to -20C (RHS H6)
- Borders & containers
- Borders
- Hazards
- Yes, plant with caution; Humans: CAUTION toxic if eaten
Spring
Spring - late · Outdoors
Feed with slow release fertiliser
Apply a general purpose slow release fertiliser, spreading it around the root area of the plant as it is coming into growth. (Or apply a liquid feed at regular intervals throughout the growing season.)
This is a simple way to provide a nutrient boost as a single annual procedure.
Spring-Autumn · Outdoors
Water to keep the soil moist
For best results, this plant needs soil that is always moist. Water deeply and regularly as soon as soil appears dry. Even for established plants in the ground, a dry week can cause problems with some soils. Check plants in pots more often, especially in hot weather. Or install an automatic irrigation system which will do the hard work for you, even when you are away on holiday.
Without regular watering some plants never fully regain their beauty.
Spring - early-mid · Planting
Divide when too large
The plant can be divided if it becomes too large or another plant is required. This may involve physically dividing the clump in two, removing offsets or small bulbs or dividing rhizomes. The new plants can be grown in pots or planted in the ground.