Corsican Hellebore
Helleborus argutifolius
The boldest hellebore: a big clump of leathery, spiny-toothed blue-green leaves, handsome all year, with clusters of pale green cups from late winter. It takes more sun and dry soil than most hellebores and deer leave it be. In colder gardens, shelter it from winter wind and mulch the crown.
- Mature size
- 2 × 2 ft
- 0.6 × 0.6 m, tall × wide
- Hardiness
- Zones 6a–8b
- USDA
- Sun
- Part shade to full shade
- Water
- Medium to moist
- Blooms
- Feb–Apr
Corsican Hellebore at its mature size
A mature Corsican Hellebore grows to about 2 ft tall and 2 ft wide.
Drawn to scale beside a 5 ft 9 in person. With VeraScape, you see it at this size in your own yard.
Typical mature size, unpruned. Sources: NC State Extension, Perennials.com.
Through the year
What Corsican Hellebore looks like month by month in a typical zone 6–7 garden.
In leaf · May–Jan
The evergreen leafy clump, no flowers.
In flower · Feb–Apr
The same clump with large clusters of pale apple-green cup flowers at the stem tips.
Growing Corsican Hellebore
- Grows well in
- The Northeast, the Southeast, the Pacific Northwest, and California.
- Growth rate
- Medium
- Good for
- Specimen, shade garden, deer resistant, and winter interest
- Leaves
- Evergreen
- Native to
- Corsica and Sardinia
Spacing
VeraScape spaces plants so their grown canopies just touch. For Corsican Hellebore, that’s about 2 ft apart, center to center.
Place a row in your own yard and VeraScape spaces them at their mature width, so you can see whether they’ll crowd the walk.
See Corsican Hellebore in your yard before you dig
Visualize it at its true size, alongside the rest of your design.
Other hellebores
Pink Frost Hellebore
Bear's Foot Hellebore
Lenten RoseCorsican HelleboreAll drawn to the same scale.