winter rose

[wheatleys wheels]

I have a white winter rose that flowered lovely this year. I have had it for a couple of years but it's never done what it's done this year.... I seems to have some pods inside the flowers and the flowers are still there... usually gone by now.

I was wondering... If these are seeds pods (which I assume they are) then do I have to wait until the pods go dry before harvesting the seeds? or can I pick them off now? they are currently green and softish... I have picked one to see what was inside and it looks like seeds they too are green and are long and rounded.

Any advice would be great as I would like to harvest some seeds in case something happened to the plant... as I do love the winter rose.

[Alice]

What's a winter rose WW ? Is it a helebore ? It sounds as if it is a seed pod in it which is not yet ripe. I would leave it til it goes hard and dry and the seeds inside are ripe. Keep an eye on it incase it ripens and sprinkles the seeds itself. If it does, some of them will germinate so you might find baby plants around the parent. Good luck with it.

[wheatleys wheels]

Sorry I meant to call it the Christmas Rose. it is a winter flowering small bush. comes in variety of colours mine is white flowers. It gives off magnificent green foliage to contrast any snow you get. The pods are hardening up but not yet dry... So I'll wait and keep an eye onthem. I was surprised to see them still flowering when I saw the pods.

One problem tho... There are these small green bugs crawling all over the pods today. What are they and what is the best non chemical way of getting rid of them. If I have to use chemical I will but I prefer not to. I try to keep my garden as green as possible.

[Alice]

So it is a helebore WW. If you wait until the seeds are ripe they should germinate fine for you - mine do it by themselves all over the gravel paths.
The green things are most likely to be greenfly. If it's just a light infestation there's no need for chemicals. Try just washing them off with a good blast of water or add a very little washing up liquid to the water. Or you could just squish them .

[wheatleys wheels]

many thanks for your advice Alice. I dont know the latin name to anything in my garden. I'm hopeless in that respect. I'm glad I can viably save the seeds (i'll try to catch them before they drop). Also when it comes to the bugs... I think it's a fairly large infestation but I will still try the water and squishing methods and see what happens. If I have to I'll resort to bug spray... if I have to.

[roitelet]

Keep a very close eye on the seed pods WW. They ripen and pop when your back is turned

[Flummery]

The hellebores are really good doers when it comes to seedlings. I have potted up a dozen good strong plants this year to sell for our village 'in bloom' funds. They were self sown in my hellebore patch and I've never had to coddle them. However, as I let them sow themselves I haven't encountered the 'turn your back' problem roitelet mentions. In cases like this tying a paper bag over the seed head can make sure you catch the contents.