Exclusive Wow!® King-Size Hellebores

Hellebores a Cut Above the Rest

For the staff of the van der Meijs nursery in Geldern, Germany, hellebore breeding is a passion and also the family business. But their most recent breeding breakthrough is generating excitement with an audience they didn’t originally set out to impress—the home gardener.

Back in the 1960s, the nursery’s objective was clear: to develop a bigger, stronger hellebore for the cut-flower industry. They started with a Helleborus niger cultivar called ‘Christmas Glory’, and their breeding efforts eventually resulted in taller, more floriferous plants with thicker stems. Three generations of van der Meijs hybridizers had a hand in this hellebore improvement, which achieved their original goal. The oldest plants in the nursery have been flowering for over 40 years and produce at least 50 stems each.

Bringing the Breakthrough Home

In an effort to diversify their discovery, the van der Meijs family took what they learned from their cut-flower hybrids, and shifted their focus to Helleborus orientalis, a favourite species of hellebore gardeners. This would allow plant retailers to offer larger hellebores to the home-gardening market—and with that, the king-size hellebore was born. In an effort to diversify their discovery, the van der Meijs family took what they learned from their cut-flower hybrids, and shifted their focus to Helleborus orientalis, a favourite species of hellebore gardeners. This would allow plant retailers to offer larger hellebores to the home-gardening market—and with that, the king-size hellebore was born.

Recently, direct marketer Breck’s purchased exclusive rights to sell king-size hellebores to their North American customers. The perennial garden plants grow 24-28" tall with 4" flowers—twice the size of traditional varieties. Sold under the name Breck’s Wow!® Hellebores, they will be available to order in January 2018 for spring 2018 planting. Breck Holland Directeur, Ben van der Veldt, said he’s thrilled to be able to make this new product announcement, which coincides with Breck’s own 200th anniversary.