I wandered into the garden last week and I noticed that the hellebores are already close to bloom. They were put in two years ago and I was not sure if they were goiing to survive through the drought and they have never bloomed. So this was exciting to see! It is too soon to see what color they are going to be, but at least they will produce something.
The temperatures dropped last night, and the night before, so I ran out today and looked at the blooms thinking that the single digits might have zapped them to toast. They seem to be all right, but it will be tomorrow when the temperatures rise to a decent degree (plus rain), before I can be sure that they are still bloom, but if we assume that hellebores are hardy way up to zone 5 and maybe higher they should be fine. The blooms are more tender than plants as a whole and for many plants the bud/flower stage is killed at a much higher temperature that will kill the whole thing.
Those hellebores are tough. Ours survived being under 2 feet of snow a few weeks ago and are starting to bloom now. We’ve even had them reseed.
I’ve always wanted to try a hellebore – I’m in 5B – but I look outside where it’s 10 degrees with a foot of snow and it’s hard to believe I’d ever see them bloom!
Snow will insulate the hellbores, so you don’t have to worry. They are planty hardy in zone 5 just do not let them get wet feet, make sure that the snow, when it melts, does not pool around the rootball and you should be fine.
Kate