Early Winter Hellebores Check-in - December 2022

One of the most unique evergreens (or mostly-evergreen) perennials that we have in the garden are the Hellebores - or Lenten Roses - that are planted in our backyard on the northside in the front of the border.  What started with just one, is now four.  We added three new Ivory Prince Hellebores at the Morton Arboretum sale this past season.  Here, below are the four Hellebores - one Sally's Shell, three Ivory Prince: 

The three newly planted (in 2022) Ivory Prince Hellebores are planted in the triangle shape *around* the Sally's Shell.  Size-wise, it seems that at least one of the new ones has caught up to the Sally's Shell.  

What's really striking about these is that the foliage persists well past the frosts.  What typically happens that by late Winter, this year's foliage will die back and one of the first things we'll see is the new plant emerge from the soil.  Here's a photo of the original Sally's Shell emerging from the mulch in early March of last year. 

The plan calls for up to 20 of these in the backyard, so I'm thinking that one of the priorities for 2023 should be to add a few more of these.  Like the Climbing Hydrangea, these should go on my plant wish list.  

With that in mind, I wanted to look back at my plant wish list.  Here's where it seems to stand right now.  I should wrap-up a list of shrubs and trees and include these perennials in one spot that would be my 2023 (and...'standing' plant wish/want list).  Here's the perennials:

1. These Hellebores. Up to 16 more.

2.  Even more Autumn Ferns and Ghost Ferns.   Probably want to replace (gasp!) my Ostrich Ferns.

3.  More Hakone Grasses - Japanese Forest Grasses. 

4.  Pulmonaria ground cover.  

5.  Pineapple Lily bulbs. 

6.  A couple of Disneyland Roses for IB2DWs. 

7.  Virginia Bluebells.