Helleborus, or commonly called the Christmas rose, is a hardy plant that bears beautiful flowers from autumn to spring. They are very popular as a flowering winter perennial. Through extensive plant tissue culture work over the last few decades, we managed to develop two hellebore varieties that are even more extraordinary in colour and vigour: ViV Victoria and ViV Valentina. 

There are dozens of helleborus varieties and they all belong to the buttercup family or ranunculaceae. The most well-known variety, Helleborus Orientalis, has been grown for centuries. Because of its unique characteristics, this plant is a must have for autumn and winter displays in your garden. 

The queen of winter

Frost and cold temperatures can wreak havoc on many plants and flowers, but they have no effect on hellebores. These plants use an ingenious system to protect themselves against frost. When the temperature drops below zero, the hellebore will temporarily move all the moisture from its flowers to be stored in the leaves and roots. This causes the flowers to lie down flat, keeping them protected.  

As soon as the temperature rises above zero again, moisture is pumped back into the flowers. The rich colours of these plants, ranging from light green to a deep purple, make them the perfect additions to your winter garden.  

Hellebores provide a beautiful splash of colour over the winter months.  

Earlier flowering through plant tissue culture

In addition to orchids (Phalaenopsis) and gloxinias, Microflor uses plant tissue culture methods to improve the qualities of hellebores. After decades of intensive work on the cross-breeding of these plants, we have managed to develop two much-improved hellebore varieties. ViV Valentina is a spring rose that bears bright red flowers from around Valentine’s Day onwards, while the purple splendour of ViV Victoria will brighten up any winter garden. ViV Victoria also offers an extremely long flowering period: from September to April.   

ViV Victoria offers an extremely long flowering period: from September to April.

For our breeding program on hellebores, we partner with plant-growing company Het Wilgenbroek, located in the West Flanders region. The hellebore varieties are then propagated in our advanced labs.   

Want to know more about our ViV range of hellebores?

Make sure to visit the upcoming Royal FloraHolland Trade Fair in Aalsmeer to learn more about the exquisite properties of our ViV helleborus range. If you have any questions, please contact us.