The Hellebore Specialists

 

 

If you have been thinking about visiting us in the Beautiful Macedon Ranges, DO IT!  Peak Flowering is happening now. Which means we currently have a massive range of 2 year old Flowering Plants in 200mm pots. Many of which are stunning “one of a kind” varieties, bred by us and available nowhere else. Come along at 11am, express your interest and we can take you for a tour of our nursery. Including our beautiful Stock House which is where the “magic happens”. We also have a huge range of 1st year seedlings in 75mm tube pots available for purchase.

 

 

Our Website Shop and Mail Order service is well stocked with our 1st year seedlings that have well developed roots and are ready to plant! After being sold out for a couple of weeks we have added 30 x Helleborus x hybridus ‘Double Black’ to the website shop. These sell out all the time and I slowly add them back in as they grow. They are smaller than I would like but due to demand I have decided to slip a few in and only mention it in this email. These are smaller than the usual standard for our Mail Order stock but the beauty of plants is that they grow! If you need them, be quick about it!

 

 

 

 

Here we are, finally a cold wet Winter! The Macedon Ranges are saturated and it feels like it has been a long time between drinks. We hope everyone is getting the rain that they need.

 

Our nursery Open Sundays are now officially in their second month for this season. This weekend being a busy one… We will be attending the now very famous Woodend Community Farmers Market on Saturday 4th of July and then the nursery is open for retail sales on Sunday 5th. Then EVERY SUNDAY until the end of September 2026.  Visit us and remember that our nursery shop is covered and protected from rain however it’s not heated! Don’t forget your coat!

   

 

Also remember that our Website Shop is Open and we do post our fabulous Hellebores allover Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia and Tasmania (sorry WA and NT).

Now is a great time to plant hellebores in your garden to establish them before summer and get the best out of them next Winter.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just a friendly PSA… It is Autumn in Australia.

If you haven’t done it yet. Don’t forget to prune your established Helleborus x hybridus plants. If your Helleborus x hybridus (“acaulescent” except H. niger) plants have been in the ground for at least a season or two you can… and should remove all old foliage. That’s right, ALL OLD FOLIAGE. Once this is done, feed them. We recommend applying ANY COMPLETE FERTILISER as per manufacturers directions of use.

You will be rewarded with beautiful fresh new seasons growth!

For other varieties of Helleborus ( “caulescent species” and hybrids) such as H. argutifolius, H. lividus, H. foetidus and H. x sternii. Prune any dead old foliage and leave them alone until after flowering. 

Don’t know what you’ve got? Have a read of the information on our website or get in touch. http://www.postofficefarmnursery.com.au

Enjoy!

 

As some of you may have noticed… It is Autumn! The Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show in all it’s wonder has been and gone. The weather is cooling down and the rain has finally moistened the ground. It’s time to get into the garden, get inspired and get planting.

Our Mail Order shop has had a very sneaky soft opening to iron out any creases and remind us of anything we had missed on our initial product listing… erm, thanks Kate 😉 … ‘Woodland Mixes’ almost didn’t make it (“Bold” mix pictured below).

There are so many varieties of Helleborus x hybridus featured in our Website Shop, you will be spoiled for choice. If you are struggling, a Woodland Mix is an excellent place to start. Available in three different distinct blends.

If you are new to Hellebores and would like to lean more, make sure you check out our Growing Guide to make sure you have some suitable garden space for Hellebore Success.

We do update our online product listings as items sell out or become available so be sure to check back throughout the season. If you are after something specific and don’t see it listed, you can contact us and we can do our best to help.

We are excited for the 2026 season. Let it begin! – Cathryn.

 

 

 

 

We’d like to thank all of our customers for their support this season.

After a very warm Autumn and a slow start, Hellebores have put on a great display this year. So much fabulous feedback from very happy local gardeners and from all over our mail order reach.

We are about to wrap up this year by closing our online Hellebore shop. The website Hellebore shop is still well stocked with a few rare and collectable acaulescent species, as well as many different colour strains and forms of Helleborus x hybridus.  However it will close on Monday November 3rd at 9:00am.

 

Shop Hellebores Here!

 

*Helleborus x hybridus ‘Double Apricot Peach’ aglow in low winter sun.

*Helleborus x hybridus ‘Double Primrose Picotee’ in our nursery display garden.

*The “Stock House” at early stages of flowering and hand pollination.

 

 

If you haven’t planted your hellebores in preparation for next Winter, you still can! But not for long.

 

Spring means warmer weather, longer days, lots of growth and explosions of colour in our gardens. Hellebores have been doing it hard all winter, bringing joy to dreary days…

Hellebores are not over yet!  Although it is the month of September, Spring is definitely still a few weeks away. We still have a great variety of our beautiful seedlings available online via our beautiful website shop.

We have THREE OPEN SUNDAYS left for this season!  So many gorgeous flowering plants to choose from, many of them totally unique and undescribed. A bunch of large and well established former breeding stock is also being offered for sale. Come and visit us in the magnificent Macedon Ranges!

 

… And don’t forget that the iconic Bolobek Garden Lovers Fair is just around the corner. Such a great opportunity to not only meet and speak with fellow plant and garden enthusiasts. A great opportunity to speak directly with growers and specialist plant breeders like us!

 

       

 

Beginning Sunday June 1st we will be commencing our Open Sundays for the 2025 Hellebore Season.

 

Details about our Open Sundays

 

Due to the prolonged mild to warm temperatures this Autumn, we are predicting late flowering. If you are wanting to purchase young Hellebore tube stock in an unmatched range of colours and forms… get in quick! If it is large plants of flowering size and age you seek, hold your horses. We will have a handful this month however there will a much larger selection later in July and August.

Not able to visit our nursery? Remember that our website shop is open 😀

 

Visit our Website Shop

 

It’s never too late to trim old foliage from your established plants. It is recommended that you remove ratty old foliage in Autumn, before plants begin to flower. This opens the plant up to improved light and airflow. This assists in the prevention of fungal infection and can promote better flowering. Autumn is also the best time to fertilise hellebores as this is in sync with their growth cycle. Hellebores actively grow in Autumn, Winter and early Spring. Not Spring and Summer like many garden plants. Our growing guide is a handy reference for even the most experienced gardeners.

 

Growing Guide

 

… 5 sleeps till Winter… Enjoy!

 

(Helleborus x hybridus ‘Double Rose Pink’)

 

We are very pleased to announce that Post Office Farm Nursery’s Hellebore Shop is now open for the 2025 season.

We have a wonderful selection of Hellebores available this year, 70 varieties in total, a new record for us.

The Hellebores are, as usual, looking good and are ready to be planted out now and over the next few months.

Please be aware that there may be some delays in us getting orders out to you.  As usual we are expecting lots of orders early on which usually exceeds our capacity to get orders posted, at least for a few weeks.  This year we have added an extra mailout day to help clear the backlog, but we are a small operation and there is only so much we can do.  So please be patient and expect delays of around 2-3 weeks till we can dispatch your order.

We are still recovering from attending the Melbourne International Flower Show last week and are looking forward to travelling up to the Collectors Plant Fair in Sydney on the 12th and 13th of this month.

Thank you for your support and happy gardening.

Click here to visit our Hellebore Shop

 

 

We hope you have enjoyed a good flowering season with the Hellebores in your garden.  Thanks again to all those who have ordered from us this year and visited the Nursery over Winter.

In the Nursery we have finished hand pollinating thousands of flowers in the stock house and will be collecting and sowing the seed before the end of the year.

In the garden, now is the time to remove spent flowering stems, apply some mulch around the Hellebores and keep an eye out for aphids.

 

Online Hellebore Shop closing

This is the last call for any Hellebore orders for this year.  There are still plenty of varieties available.   The website Shop will be closing in 10 days time, so get any orders in ASAP please and we will be posting them out before the end of October.

To go to the website shop click here.

 

 

Winter has certainly hit fairly hard for much of south east Australia over the past month or so.  Despite the cold the Hellebores are (slowly) coming into flower and looking good.

In the nursery we have started our exhaustive hand pollination of our stock plants in the hope of plenty of seed to sow later in the year.  And we have lots of newly germinated seedlings coming up from last years crop which we are about to pot into tubes ready for next year.

In the garden it is not too late to remove any old or messy foliage from your Hellebores and give them some fertiliser.  And make sure there is not too much mulch/fallen leaves smothering the plants as they appreciate a some space, light and air movement at this time of year.

Shop restock

We have just done a stocktake of what we have available in the Nursery and completed a restock of the Online Shop with a few new varieties and restocks of some that had been previously sold out.  For the keen collectors, we are currently offering the rare Chinese species Helleborus thibetanus, for the first time ever.  Now is the perfect time to plant Hellebores.

Visit the Online Hellebore Store

Open Sundays

The Nursery is open every Sunday now through till the end of September.  As a production Nursery we are not usually open, so this is a rare chance to see how we propagate and grow our Hellebores.  We now have quite a lot of flowering sized Hellebores available, so over the next 8 weeks or so will see the Hellebores at their peak.

Details about our Open Sundays

 

 

Post Office Farm Nursery is currently open to the public.  We will be open to visitors on Sundays only from June 2nd till the end of September.

Our sales area is undercover and we are about an hour’s drive from most parts of Melbourne.

We will have the usual extensive range of smaller one year old seedlings in 75mm tubes available for sale.  We also have larger Hellebores in flower which are only available from the Nursery.  This year we expect most of the larger flowering sized plants to be available during July and August.  Also at 11am on every Open Sunday there will be a talk about getting the best out of your Hellebores and a behind the scenes tour of the Nursery.

You can get directions and other information about our Open Sundays here:

Details about our Open Sundays

 

Our Online Hellebore Store is also now open with a huge range of Hellebores ready to be posted out to your door.  Winter is an ideal time to plant Hellebores and we still have most varieties still available, so if you need a few more Hellebores for the garden have a look at the selection here:

Visit the Online Hellebore Store

 

If you have not done so already, now is the ideal time to remove the old foliage on established Hellebores and give them a feed.

For Helleborus x hybridus varieties that have been planted for two or more years and are a reasonable size you can remove all of the old foliage right down to near the base of the plant.  Leave any new growth.  This will tidy up your plants and show off the flowers this winter to better effect.  For the taller shrubby species Hellebores such as H. argutifolius, H. lividus, H. x sternii or H. foetidus, don’t remove the foliage now, wait till after flowering in spring.  Also a good idea to remove any build up of mulch or leaves from around the base of the plant to allow for good light and air movement.

At the same time you can give your Hellebores some food.  Any complete fertiliser (ie one that has nitrogen, potassium and phosphorous) such a dynamic lifter or osmocote will be fine.  A light dressing of dolomite lime will also be appreciated.

 

We are very pleased to announce that our website’s Hellebore Shop is now open for the 2024 season.

We have a wonderful selection of Hellebores available this year, 60 varieties in total.  This total includes several new varieties that have not been offered previously.

The Hellebores are, as usual, looking good and are ready to be planted out now and over the next few months.

Please be aware that there may be some delays in us getting orders out to you.  As usual we are expecting lots of orders early on which usually exceeds our capacity to get orders posted, at least for a few weeks.  This year we have added an extra mailout day to help clear the backlog, but we are a small operation and there is only so much we can do.  So please be patient and expect delays of around 2-3 weeks till we can dispatch your order.

We have been very busy so far this season attending the Melbourne International Flower Show before Easter and Collectors Plant Fair in Sydney, just last weekend.

Thank you for your support and happy gardening.

Click here to visit our Hellebore Shop

 

 

We hope you have enjoyed a good flowering season with the Hellebores in your garden.  With a dryer Winter this year than the previous couple the Hellebores have been much happier, at least in this part of the world.  Thanks again to all those who have ordered from us this year and visited the Nursery over Winter.

In the garden, now is the time to remove spent flowering stems, apply some mulch around the Hellebores and keep an eye out for aphids.

 

Online Hellebore Shop closing

This is the last call for any Hellebore orders for this year.  We have just updated the Website Shop and there are still plenty of varieties available.   The website Shop will be closing later this week, so get any orders in ASAP please and we will be posting them out next week.

To go to the website shop click here.

 

Sale of larger flowering sized Hellebores.

We have a limited stock of our 2 year old flowering sized plants in 200mm pots left at the Nursery.  These have finished flowering.  They are only available for pickup from the Nursery until the end of October.  We cannot post these plants.  These are all part of our breeding program.  Mixed colours only.  We are selling these for $15 each (half price), with a minimum purchase of 10 plants.  If you would like to order please email to: peter@postofficefarmnursery.com.au

 

 

We have been enjoying a good run of mild sunny weather here in the Macedon Ranges over the past six weeks or so.  We are almost finished pollinating our stock plants for this season and we are midway through tubing up next years Hellebores.  All reports are that Hellebores in gardens in this part of the world have also been enjoying the mild sunny weather over Winter as well.

We had a visit from the Better Homes and Gardens crew last month and a story on Hellebores by Melissa King and featuring Post Office Farm Nursery is available to view here.

 

The Nursery will continue to be open over the next three Sundays (final Open Sunday is September 24th).  So if you had been thinking of a visit, now is the time.  Still plenty of plants in flower to see.  Talk on Hellebores and nursery tour at 11am on each Sunday we are open.  You can get directions and other information about our Open Sundays here:

Details about our Open Sundays

 

Our Online Hellebore Store is still open with a huge range of Hellebores ready to be posted out to your door.  It is not too late to plant Hellebores and we still have many varieties still available, so if you need a few more Hellebores for the garden have a look at the selection here:

Visit the Online Hellebore Store

 

 

 

We have been enjoying a good run of mild sunny weather here in the Macedon Ranges over the past six weeks or so.  We are almost finished pollinating our stock plants for this season and we are midway through tubing up next years Hellebores.  All reports are that Hellebores in gardens in this part of the world have also been enjoying the mild sunny weather over Winter as well.

We had a visit from the Better Homes and Gardens crew last month and a story on Hellebores by Melissa King and featuring Post Office Farm Nursery is available to view here.

 

The Nursery will continue to be open over the next three Sundays (final Open Sunday is September 24th).  So if you had been thinking of a visit, now is the time.  Still plenty of plants in flower to see.  Talk on Hellebores and nursery tour at 11am on each Sunday we are open.  You can get directions and other information about our Open Sundays here:

Details about our Open Sundays

 

Our Online Hellebore Store is still open with a huge range of Hellebores ready to be posted out to your door.  It is not too late to plant Hellebores and we still have many varieties still available, so if you need a few more Hellebores for the garden have a look at the selection here:

Visit the Online Hellebore Store

 

 

 

Starting from Sunday June 4th, Post Office Farm Nursery will be open to the public.  We will be open to visitors on Sundays only from June 4th till the end of September.

Our sales area is undercover and we are about an hour’s drive from most parts of Melbourne.

We will have the usual extensive range of smaller one year old seedlings in 75mm tubes available for sale.  We also have larger Hellebores in flower which are only available from the Nursery.  This year we expect most of the larger flowering sized plants to be available during July and August.  Also at 11am on every Open Sunday there will be a talk about getting the best out of your Hellebores and a tour of the Nursery.

You can get directions and other information about our Open Sundays here:

Details about our Open Sundays

 

The Online Hellebore Store is also open with a huge range of Hellebores ready to be posted out to your door.  Winter is an ideal time to plant Hellebores and we still have most varieties still available, so if you need a few more Hellebores for the garden have a look at the selection here:

Visit the Online Hellebore Store

 

If you have not done so already, now is the ideal time to remove the old foliage on established Hellebores and give them a feed.

For Helleborus x hybridus varieties that have been planted for two or more years and are a reasonable size you can remove all of the old foliage right down to near the base of the plant.  Leave any new growth.  This will tidy up your plants and show off the flowers this winter to better effect.  For the taller shrubby species Hellebores such as H. argutifolius, H. lividus, H. x sternii or H. foetidus, don’t remove the foliage now, wait till after flowering in spring.  Also a good idea to remove any build up of mulch or leaves from around the base of the plant to allow for good light and air movement.

At the same time you can give your Hellebores some food.  Any complete fertiliser (ie one that has nitrogen, potassium and phosphorous) such a dynamic lifter or osmocote will be fine.  A light dressing of dolomite lime will also be appreciated.

Helleborus x hybridus ‘Bicolour’

 

We are very pleased to announce that our website Hellebore Shop is now open for the 2023 season.

We have a wonderful selection of Hellebores available this year, 64 varieties in total, a new record.  This total includes five new varieties that have not been offered previously.

The Hellebores are looking particularly good this year, having enjoyed the weather of the past six months or so.

Please be aware that there may be some delays in us getting orders out to you.  As usual we are expecting lots of orders early on which usually exceeds our capacity to get orders posted, at least for a few weeks.  This year we have added an extra mailout day to help clear the backlog, but we are a small operation and there is only so much we can do.  So please be patient and expect delays of around 2-3 weeks till we can dispatch your order.

I also wanted to draw your attention to a very nice video featuring Post Office Farm Nursery which was made by Stephen Ryan and Matthew Lucas (The Horti-culturalists) on their Youtube channel last year.  Lots of helpful information about Hellebores.  Click here to go to the video.

Thank you for your support and happy gardening.

Click here to visit our Hellebore Shop

 

Upcoming Plant Fairs

Post Office Farm Nursery will be attending two Plant Fairs over the next few weeks.

Firstly we will be at our usual stall (B40) at the Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show which runs from Wednesday March 29th to Sunday April 2 at the Royal Exhibition Building and Carlton Gardens in Melbourne.  We have been busy setting up over the past few days and the event is looking wonderful.

Then on the weekend of 14th and 15th of April we will be travelling north to attend the wonderful Collectors Plant Fair at the Hawkesbury Racecourse at Clarendon on the western outskirts of Sydney.

We hope to see lots of our regular Hellebore collectors at these two wonderful garden lovers events.  More details on our website.

Hellebore Shop Update

For a number of logistical reasons (we just have too much to do in Late March) we have pushed back the usual opening date of our Website Hellebore Shop by a few weeks this year.  We will be opening the Website Shop this year on April 11th, right after Easter.  The one year old seedlings are looking fantastic this year and we have a very nice range of varieties all ready to get posted to your door.

 

 

We hope you have enjoyed a good flowering season with the Hellebores in your garden.  Thanks again to all those who have ordered from us this year and visited the Nursery over Winter.

In the Nursery our Open Sundays are finished for this year and we are still tubing up the newly germinated seedlings which will be next year’s crop.  We have finished hand pollinating thousands of flowers in the stock house and are about to spend several days placing our custom bags over all of the pollinated flowers to collect the seed.

In the garden, now is the time to remove spent flowering stems, apply some mulch around the Hellebores and keep an eye out for aphids.   It has been VERY wet in most parts over the past year, so any Hellebores that have been adversely impacted by fungal issues should have the affected foliage and flowers removed and maybe followed up with a copper based fungicide spray.

 

Online Hellebore Shop closing

This is the last call for any Hellebore orders for this year.  We have just updated the Website Shop with the varieties we still have available, some in very limited numbers.   The website Shop will be closing at 6pm this Friday October 7th, with our final mailout happening next week.

To see which varieties are still available click here.

 

Assorted Helleborus x hybridus flowers

 

It has been an unusually late flowering season here in Ashbourne.  The long period of very cold weather we experienced from late May has acted to slow down the progress of the Hellebores coming into flower.  But we are finally seeing some good flowering now which should last till the middle of September at least.

In the nursery we have started our exhaustive hand pollination of our stock plants in the hope of plenty of seed to sow later in the year.  And we have lots of newly germinated seedlings coming up from last years crop which we are about to pot into tubes ready for next year.

In the garden it is not too late to remove any old or messy foliage from your Hellebores and give them some fertiliser.  And make sure there is not too much mulch/fallen leaves smothering the plants as they appreciate a some space, light and air movement at this time of year.

The Nursery is open every Sunday now through till the end of September.  As a production Nursery we are not usually open, so this is a rare chance to see how we propagate and grow our Hellebores.  You can also view an unmatched range of Hellebores available for sale (both tubestock and flowering sized plants).  Well worth a visit over the next six weeks or so to get the full peak season Hellebore experience.

You can get directions and other information about our Open Sundays here:

Details about our Open Sundays

 

For those who can’t make it to the Nursery we are still posting out Hellebores to all States except WA.  Winter is an ideal time to plant Hellebores, so if you need a few more Hellebores for the garden have a look at the selection here:

Visit the Online Hellebore Store

 

 

Starting from this Sunday June 5th, Post Office Farm Nursery will be open to the public again this year.  We will be open to visitors every Sunday from June till the end of September.

We look forward to welcoming visitors to the Nursery over Winter.  Our sales area is undercover and we are about an hour’s drive from most parts of Melbourne.

We will have the usual extensive range of smaller one year old seedlings in 75mm tubes available for sale.  We also have larger Hellebores in flower which are only available from the Nursery.  This year we expect most of the larger flowering sized plants to be available during July and August.

You can get directions and other information about our Open Sundays here:

Details about our Open Sundays

 

For those who can’t make it to the Nursery we are still posting out Hellebores to all States except WA.  Winter is an ideal time to plant Hellebores and we still have most varieties still available, so if you need a few more Hellebores for the garden have a look at the selection here:

Visit the Online Hellebore Store

 

If you have not done so already, now is the ideal time to remove the old foliage on established Hellebores and give them a feed.

For Helleborus x hybridus varieties that have been planted for two or more years and are a reasonable size you can remove all of the old foliage right down to near the base of the plant.  Leave any new growth.  This will tidy up your plants and show off the flowers this winter to better effect.  For the taller shrubby species Hellebores such as H. argutifolius, H. lividus, H. x sternii or H. foetidus, don’t remove the foliage now, wait till after flowering in spring.  Also a good idea to remove any build up of mulch or leaves from around the base of the plant to allow for good light and air movement.

At the same time you can give your Hellebores some food.  Any complete fertiliser (ie one that has nitrogen, potassium and phosphorous) such a dynamic lifter or osmocote will be fine.  A light dressing of dolomite lime will also be appreciated.

 

 

We are pleased to announce that our website Hellebore Shop is now open for this season.

This year the Shop features 54 different Hellebore varieties, including a number being offered for the first time.  The weather has been very mild for us over the past few months and the Hellebores are looking in excellent condition.  Autumn is an ideal time to plant Hellebores.

Please be patient when ordering as we usually have a rush of orders early on which can take us a while to catch up with.  Expect a delay of about 2-3 weeks between ordering and getting your plants.  We have a new ‘How we do things’ page which explains everything you need to know about how the mail-out of our plants work, so if you have not ordered before, do have a look at that.

VISIT OUR HELLEBORE STORE HERE

PLANT FAIR NEWS

For the first time since 2019 we will be attending some wonderful Plant Fairs over the next few weeks and we are really looking forward to getting out and about again.

Firstly in Melbourne we will be at the Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show from March 30 to April 3.  Then in NSW we will be at the Collectors Plant Fair at the Hawkesbury Race Club in Clarendon on April 9 and 10.  A couple of weeks later we will be at the Southern Highlands Botanic Garden Plant Fair in Bowral, NSW on April 23 and 24.

MORE INFORMATION ON THESE PLANT FAIRS HERE

 

While there was lots of damage in the Macedon Ranges caused by the severe storm event of earlier this month we were very fortunate that the Nursery escaped any real damage.  All the local roads are open again so it is all good to visit the area now.

We are enjoying another earlyish Hellebore flowering season this year.  As a result we have a lots of flowering sized plants available in the Nursery at the moment and probably through to the end of August at least.  This means we have started spending time in the stockhouse with hand pollinating, something we all look forward to each year.

The Nursery is open every Sunday through till the end of September.  As a production Nursery we are not usually open, so this is a rare chance to see how we propagate and grow our Hellebores.  You can also view an unmatched range of Hellebores available for sale.  Well worth a visit over the next six to eight weeks to get the full peak season Hellebore experience.

Details about our Open Sundays

 

For those who can’t make it to the Nursery we are still posting out Hellebores to all States except WA.  Most varieties are still available, but things are selling fast so don’t hold off too long.  Winter is an ideal time to plant Hellebores, so if you need a few more Hellebores for the garden have a look at the selection here:

Visit the Online Hellebore Store

 

 

Starting from Sunday June 6th, Post Office Farm Nursery will be open to the public again this year.  We will be open to visitors every Sunday from June till the end of September.

We look forward to welcoming visitors to the Nursery over Winter, this is especially so after last year when those from greater Melbourne were unable to visit for most of the season.

We will have the usual huge range of smaller one year old seedlings in 75mm tubes available for sale.  This year flowering looks to be running to its usual timetable, so we will have few if any have larger flowering sized Hellebores available until at least July.

You can get directions and other information about our Open Sundays here:

Details about our Open Sundays

 

For those who can’t make it to the Nursery we are still posting out Hellebores to all States except WA.  Winter is an ideal time to plant Hellebores and we still have most varieties still available, so if you need a few more Hellebores for the garden have a look at the selection here:

Visit the Online Hellebore Store

 

If you have not done so already, now is the ideal time to remove the old foliage on established Hellebores and give them a feed.

For Helleborus x hybridus varieties that have been planted for two or more years and are a reasonable size you can remove all of the old foliage right down to near the base of the plant.  Leave any new growth.  This will tidy up your plants and show off the flowers this winter to better effect.  For the taller shrubby species Hellebores such as H. argutifolius, H. lividus, H. x sternii or H. foetidus, don’t remove the foliage now, wait till after flowering in spring.  Also a good idea to remove any build up of mulch or leaves from around the base of the plant to allow for good light and air movement.

At the same time you can give your Hellebores some food.  Any complete fertiliser (ie one that has nitrogen, potassium and phosphorous) such a dynamic lifter or osmocote will be fine.  A light dressing of dolomite lime will also be appreciated.

 

We are very pleased to announce that our website Hellebore Shop is now open for business.

As with last year, we will not be attending any of our usual Plant Fairs this Autumn so for the moment ordering online is the only way to get our Hellebores.  The past few months have been quite mild weather wise and the Hellebores are looking as good as they ever have.

We have a wonderful selection of Hellebores available this year, 49 varieties in total, a new record.  One variety in particular I would like to mention is the Experimental Crosses which this year are exclusively the offspring from the Hellebores we imported from Japan in 2018. Very exciting.

Please be aware that there may be some delays in us getting orders out to you, at least in the next few weeks.  Easter is coming up which always disrupts our dispatch process and we are expecting lots of orders early on.  Last year we added an extra mailout day to help clear the backlog, but we are a small operation and there is only so much we can do.  So please be patient and expect delays of around 3 weeks till we can dispatch your order.  The good news is that Australia Post delivery times seem almost back to normal at the moment, which was not the case at times last year.

Thank you for your support and happy gardening.

Click here to visit our Hellebore Shop

 

Helleborus x hybridus double picotee
green spotted

 

Our Hellebore shop has reopened after a couple of weeks off.

We were having a few issues with Australia Post delays and keeping up with orders generally, but we think we have things sorted now.  We will be posting all Victorian orders via Express Post to expedite delivery.  Interstate orders have not been as affected by Australia Post delays so we will continue to send via normal parcel post. We are finding about 80% of orders getting to their destinations within one week.

Your understanding of the challenges in running a mail based live plant business during the current difficulties is appreciated.  Plants may be in the post a bit longer than ideal but we find that beyond a few superficial marks, Hellebores are tough plants and will in the longer term grow right through such issues.

Please note also that stocks of quite a few of the varieties we have currently listed in the shop are limited and may not last long.  We expect that we will only be taking orders until the end of September.

We have enjoyed a wonderful flowering season here in the Nursery.  We are still hand pollinating our stock plants and tubing up the varieties which we will be selling next year.

The joy and satisfaction of plants and gardening have only been heightened by the unique circumstances that we have all found ourselves in during 2020.  We hope that your garden is thriving and would again like to thank all for their support over the past season and hope for a better one next year.

Click here to go to our Shop.

Open Sundays

The next three Sundays will be our final Open Days at Post Office Farm for this year.   Last chance for the year to see the Nursery and we still have some flowering Hellebores available.  For more information on our Open Sundays see here.

A lovely composition of Hellebore flowers taken by Simon Griffiths at Post Office Farm.

 

Starting this Sunday June 7th, we will be opening the Nursery to the public.  We will be open to visitors every Sunday from June till the end of September.

After a challenging start to our Hellebore season with the cancellation of the three major Plant Fairs we usually attend in March and April, we have been encouraged by a very positive response to our Online Hellebore Store.  With the easing of COVID-19 restrictions from June 1 allowing regional travel, we are looking forward to catching up with customers again over Winter (at an appropriate social distance of course).

We will have the usual huge range of Hellebores available for sale.  This year flowering is about a month earlier than usual, so we will have larger flowering sized Hellebores available from our first Open Sunday as well as smaller tubestock varieties.

Please note that we will not be presenting our usual Nursery Tours/Talks on our Open Sundays to meet current social distancing requirements.  However we are happy to answer all of your questions about our Hellebores or to assist you with growing them.

You can get directions and other information about our Open Sundays here:

Details about our Open Sundays

 

For those who can’t make it to the Nursery we are still posting out Hellebores to all States except WA.  Winter is an ideal time to plant Hellebores, so if you need a few more Hellebores for the garden have a look at the selection here:

Visit the Online Hellebore Store

 

 

We are very pleased to announce that our website’s Hellebore Shop is now open for business.

We don’t need to tell anyone that it has been a challenging start to our Hellebore season.  All of our much loved Autumn Plant Fairs have been cancelled, for reasons we fully understand, so we missed catching up with lots of our ‘regulars’.  Of course the same conditions are affecting other small Nurseries and businesses at the moment, but life must go on.

For those that missed out on picking up a few Hellebores at the cancelled Plant Fairs, and for those planning some extra garden time in the next little while….never fear Australia Post is here!

One silver lining from current events is that we have several varieties that were going to be Plant Fair exclusives which we have added to the website shop.  So we have no less than 48 varieties listed, a new record.  And we have to say the plants are looking really, really nice at the moment.

Thank you for your support and please take care.

Click here to visit our Hellebore Shop

 

We hope you have enjoyed a good flowering season with Hellebores in your garden.  Thanks again to all those who have ordered from us this year and visited the Nursery over Winter.  In the Nursery now we are nearly finished tubing up the newly germinated seedlings which will be next year’s crop.  We have finished hand pollinating thousands of flowers in the stock house and have spent several days placing our custom bags over all of the pollinated flowers to collect the seed.

In the garden now is the time to remove spent flowering stems, apply some mulch around the Hellebores and keep an eye out for aphids.  Assuming the usual dry conditions apply over Summer make sure any new Hellebores you have planted this year get water as required.

 

Crookwell Garden Festival 

Our very last event this season will be to attend the Crookwell Garden Festival in November.  We hope to see Hellebore lovers from Crookwell and surrounding areas.  We have put aside a few nice Hellebores for this market.  The wonderful ‘Garden Lovers Market’ is held on Saturday 9th November as part of the Crookwell Garden festival.  The Garden Lovers Market is held at the Crookwell Showgrounds.  More information here.

 

Online Hellebore Shop closing

Last call for any Hellebore orders for this year.  We are getting very low in stocks of Hellebores so the website Shop will be closing at 6pm this Friday October 18th.

To see which varieties are still available click here.

 

 

We are getting towards the end of a very good flowering season for the Hellebores here in Ashbourne.  All of our hand pollinating is finished for this year and we will soon start to place our special seed collection bags over all pollinated flowers before the seed ripens.  Otherwise we are busy tubing up all of this years Helleborus seedlings so we have good stock for next year.

Spring Plant fairs

We will be attending three Plant Fairs over the next month or so.

Firstly, on the weekend of 5th and 6th of October we will be at the Garden Lover’s Fair at Bolobek in Macedon, see this website for details.

The weekend of 12th and 13th of October will see us at the Gippsland Garden Expo at Lardner Park, near Warragul.  See this website for details.

Finally on Saturday 9th of November we will be attending the Crookwell Garden Lovers Market held at the Crookwell Showgrounds in NSW.  More information here.

Open Sundays

This coming Sunday (September 29th) will be our final Open Day at Post Office Farm for this year.   Last chance for the year to see the Nursery and we still have some flowering Hellebores available.  For more information on our Open Sundays see here.

Hellebores by mail

Our online Hellebore Shop is still open.  However we are getting lowish in stock for several varieties and may be closing the Shop a bit earlier than the usual end of October this year.  If you still need a few Hellebores, I would recommend ordering in the next couple of weeks to avoid missing out.

Click here to go to our Shop.

 

 

We are experiencing another slightly later flowering season this year.  However the Hellebores have now got into their stride and and are now putting on a spectacular show in the Nursery.  We are starting to get very busy with hand pollinating our stock plants and putting lots of lovely flowering Hellebores into the sales area for our Sunday Open Days.

The Nursery is open every Sunday through till the end of September.  As a production Nursery we are not usually open, so this is a rare chance to see how we propagate and grow our Hellebores.  You can also view an unmatched range of Hellebores available for sale.  Well worth a visit over the next six to eight weeks to get the full peak season Hellebore experience.

You can get directions and other information about our Open Sundays here:

Details about our Open Sundays

 

For those who can’t make it to the Nursery we are still posting out Hellebores to all States except WA.  Winter is an ideal time to plant Hellebores, so if you need a few more Hellebores for the garden have a look at the selection here:

Visit the Online Hellebore Store

 

Photos of a few of the lovely Hellebores we have had at the Nursery in recent weeks:

 

We have been very happy to get some good rains in the Macedon ranges this month after a very dry start to the year.  In the nursery the Hellebores have started to bud up and we look like getting a very good flowering season this Winter.  We are getting our sales area and display bed set up for the start of our Nursery Open Sundays from June 2nd.

Thanks to all those who have already ordered their Hellebores for this season.  We have had lots of orders and some items are selling fast.

Now is the perfect time to plant Hellebores as they will grow away nicely through Winter and into Spring.

 

Click here to visit our Hellebore shop

 

If you have not done so already, now is the ideal time to remove the old foliage on established Hellebores and give them a feed.

For Helleborus x hybridus varieties that have been planted for two or more years and are a reasonable size you can remove all of the old foliage right down to the ground.  Leave any new growth.  This will tidy up your plants and show off the flowers this winter to better effect.  For the taller shrubby species Hellebores such as H. argutifolius, H. lividus, H. x sternii or H. foetidus, don’t remove the foliage now, wait till after flowering in spring.  Also a good idea to remove any build up of mulch or leaves from around the base of the plant to allow for good light and air movement.

At the same time you can give your Hellebores some food.  Any complete fertiliser (ie one that has nitrogen, potassium and phosphorous) such a dynamic lifter or osmocote will be fine.  A light dressing of dolomite lime will also be appreciated.

Helleborus x hybridus double picotee
Helleborus x hybridus Slate

 

We are pleased to announce that the Post Office Farm Nursery Hellebore Shop is open for the 2019 season.

There are 43 different varieties of Hellebores available this year.  There are two completely new varieties for us (see pics below) and a few others that we have not had on the list for a while.

Despite a very hot and dry Summer, the Hellebores in the Nursery are looking wonderful.  Autumn is the ideal time to get Hellebores planted, so have a look around our online shop.

Click here to visit the Hellebore Shop

 

Autumn Plant Fair News…

From the 27th to the 31st of March we will be at the Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show.  For those in NSW, we will be attending the Collectors Plant Fair at Hawkesbury Racecourse on 6th and 7th of April.   We will be back in NSW again on the 27th and 28th of April at the Southern Highlands Botanic Garden Plant fair in Bowral, a new event for us.

Helleborus x hybridus ‘Double pink blotched’
Helleborus x hybridus ‘Green red flush’

 

We hope you have enjoyed a good season with the Hellebores in your garden.  It has been an excellent year for flowering at the Nursery this year and we have enjoyed strong demand for our plants.  Thanks again to all those who have ordered from us this year and visited the Nursery over Winter.  In the Nursery now we are nearly finished tubing up the newly germinated seedlings which will be next year’s crop.  We have finished hand pollinating thousands of flowers in the stock house and are about to place bags over all of those flowers to collect the seed.

In the garden now is the time to remove spent flowering stems, apply some mulch around the Hellebores and keep an eye out for aphids.  Assuming the usual dry conditions apply over Summer make sure any new Hellebores you have planted this year get water as required.

Late Spring Events

This year we are attending a couple of gardening events in mid November.  This is late for us but both events are quite exciting and new for us so we didn’t want to miss out.

Yarra Valley Plant Fair and garden expo

An exciting new Plant Fair, this will be held on the weekend of 17th and 18th of November at 125 Quayle Rd, Wandin.  For more information see here.

Paul Bangay’s Stonefields open garden.

Another new event for us.  This event will raise money for the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation.  Its will be held on the weekend of 17th and 18th of November (yes we will be in two places at once) at Paul’s private garden Stonefields, near Daylesford in Central Victoria.  For more information see here.

Online Hellebore Shop closing

Last call for any Hellebore orders for this year.  The website Shop will be closing by 9am on Monday October 22.

To see which varieties are still available click here.

We are still experiencing some lovely late season Hellebore flowering at the Nursery this year.  Our expectation of a very late flowering season have been borne out and we are still busy hand pollinating and selecting nice flowering plants when we would usually be winding both up at this time.

 

Spring Plant fairs

We will be attending three Plant Fairs over the next month, all in lovely rural parts of Victoria.

Firstly, this coming weekend the 22nd and 23rd of September we will be at the Yea Garden Expo, see this website for details.

Then on the weekend of 6th and 7th of October we will be at the Garden Lover’s Fair at Bolobek in Macedon, see this website for details.

Finally, on the weekend of 13th and 14th of October we will be at the Gippsland Garden Expo at Lardner Park, near Warragul.  See this website for details.

 

Open Sundays

The next two Sundays (September 23rd and 30th) will be our final Open Days at Post Office Farm for this year.  Due to the late season there is still plenty of Hellebores in flower and a good range of Hellebores to choose from.  For more information on our Open Sundays see here.

 

Hellebores by mail

Our online Hellebore Shop is still open.  However we are getting lowish in stock for many varieties and may be closing the Shop a bit earlier than the usual end of October this year.  If you still need a few Hellebores, I would recommend ordering in the next couple of weeks to avoid missing out.

Click here to go to our Shop.

 

This year the flowering of the Hellebores at Post Office Farm have been rather later than usual.  The extended warm spell we experienced in Autumn is the culprit.  Anyhow the Hellebores have caught up at last and we will be seeing lots of wonderful flowers here over August and well into September.

As usual the Nursery is open every Sunday through till the end of September.  As a production Nursery we are not usually open, so this is a rare chance to see how we propagate and grow our Hellebores.  You can also view an unmatched range of Hellebores available for sale.  Well worth a visit over the next couple of months now that we have lots of lovely Hellebores in flower.  You can get directions and other information about our Open Sundays here:

Details about our Open Sundays

 

In other news we have had an unusual amount of media attention recently with stories in both The Age newspaper and Gardening Australia TV.  Nice to be able to share our story and passion for Hellebores with a wider audience.  If you missed them, you can see The Age story here and the Gardening Australia story here.

 

Finally I should note that our website shop is still open and most varieties are still available.  Winter is an ideal time to plant Hellebores, so if you need a few more Hellebores for the garden have a look at the selection here:

Visit our Hellebore Store

A lovely composition of Hellebore flowers taken by Simon Griffiths at Post Office Farm.

 

After a very warm start to Autumn, we are finally experiencing some cooler weather in this part of the world.  There are plenty of flowers starting to form on the Hellebores here at the Nursery and we are hopeful of a good, if perhaps slightly late, flowering season over Winter.

Thanks to all those who have already ordered their Hellebores for this season.  We have had lots of orders and some items are selling fast.

Now is the perfect time to plant Hellebores as they will grow away nicely through Winter and into Spring.

 

Click here to visit our Hellebore shop

 

Now is the best time to remove the old foliage on established Hellebores and give them a feed.

For Helleborus x hybridus varieties that have been planted for two or more years and are a reasonable size you can remove all of the old foliage right down to the ground.  Leave any new growth.  This will tidy up your plants and show off the flowers this winter to better effect.  For the taller shrubby species Hellebores such as H. argutifolius, H. lividus, H. x sternii or H. foetidus, don’t remove the foliage now, wait till after flowering in spring.  Also a good idea to remove any build up of mulch or leaves from around the base of the plant to allow for good light and air movement.

At the same time you can give your Hellebores some food.  Any complete fertiliser (ie one that has nitrogen, potassium and phosphorous) such a dynamic lifter or osmocote will be fine.  A light dressing of dolomite lime will also be appreciated.

Helleborus x hybridus Double Reverse Picotee

 

Helleborus x hybridus Apricot Peach Spotted
Helleborus x hybridus Double Green Spotted

 

 

We are pleased to announce that the Post Office Farm Nursery Hellebore Shop is open for the 2018 season.

There are 44 different varieties of Hellebores available this year.  In particular we have our best selection of the lovely species Helleborus foetidus we have offered for several years and a number of other varieties not offered for a while.

The Hellebores are also looking wonderful after a mild summer for us.  Autumn is the ideal time to get Hellebores planted, so have a look around our online shop.

Please note that with Easter and some Plant fair commitments over the next couple of weeks, there may be a delay of a few weeks in getting orders out.

Autumn Plant Fair News: For those in NSW we will be attending the Collectors Plant Fair at Hawkesbury Racecourse on 7th and 8th of April.  And for those in Victoria we will be at the Tesselaar Gardening and Plant Expo in Silvan on 14th and 15th of April.

 

Click here to visit the Hellebore Shop

 

 

Hellebore Shop closing soon

Thanks to everyone who have ordered Hellebores this year.  We have had lots of good reports from customers saying what a good year it has been for Hellebores in the garden.

At the end of October we will be closing our Online Hellebore Store for this year (it will reopen in late March).  We have most varieties still available and they are looking really good and are ready to plant.  This is your last chance to get a few Hellebores in the garden this year.

Visit the Hellebore Store here to see our range

 

Spring maintenance tips for your Hellebores

Hellebores have generally finished flowering now and should be putting on some leafy growth.  Unless you want lots of seedlings coming up next winter, you might like to remove spent flowering stems before they drop seed.  This will also help the plant expend its energy in root and shoot growth rather than seed production.

If your Hellebores are putting on plenty of growth a little liquid feeding now wont hurt, but the main time for fertilising is late Autumn and into Winter.  Hellebores are not fussy about types of fertiliser – any of the commonly available liquid feeds at the standard rate will be fine.

Remove any old tatty or diseased looking growth (but leave the nice new growth).  Also keep an eye out for Aphids (looks for the wet sticky patches of their secretions on upper surface of foliage) and give them a few good sprays with your preferred insecticide.  Keep your Hellebores well mulched over summer.  And most importantly: young plants put into the ground this season will need a bit of extra watering over Summer if it is dry.

Happy gardening!

 

 

We have experienced a particularly cold Winter at Post Office Farm this year.  Over the past couple of weeks there has been little sign of early Spring with some real cold and even a little snow up here in the Macedon Ranges.  It has been a very good Winter for Hellebore flowering in the garden as well as the Nursery and I have included a few garden images of Hellebores taken over Winter in this post.

We remain very busy in the Nursery – hand pollinating in the stock house and tubing up all of the seedlings that have germinated this Winter.

Open Sundays

Only three more Open Sundays left for this season.  We are only open to the public from June to the end of September, so last chance till next Winter.  If you have been planning a visit to Post Office Farm, now is a great time as the cold weather of late means there is still lots of fine flowering to be seen.

Directions and details of Open Sundays here

 

Hellebores by mail

Our online Hellebore Shop is still open and we have a very good range available.  And it is an excellent time to plant before the warmer weather arrives.

Go to our Online Hellebore Shop here

 

 

Helleborus x hybridus primrose yellow dark centre and blacks
Helleborus x hybridus double apricots, primrose yellows and reds
Helleborus x hybridus whites, pinks and reds

 

A mid season post from us to remind you that mid-Winter is a great time to plant Hellebores.  Our Online Hellebore Store is currently open with a lovely range of Hellebores for your garden.  Order online and we will carefully pack and post your Hellebores to you via Australia Post.

Click here to visit our Hellebore Shop

 

This time of the year there is lots happening at the Nursery.  Hellebore seed is germinating with the promise of next years crop of Hellebores.  The results of our breeding efforts of three years ago are becoming evident as our larger 200mm pots of Hellebores come into flower now and over the next 6 to 8 weeks.

We have the Nursery open to the public every Sunday through till the end of September.  Anytime from now until the end of August would be the perfect time to visit us in the beautiful Macedon Ranges to see a stunning display of flowering Hellebores or pick up some smaller mail order sized plants and save on postage.

We are open from 10am to 4pm on Sundays and at 11am and 2 pm each Sunday we have an informative talk on Hellebores and a tour of the Nursery.

Click here for more information on our Open Sundays

 

Helleborus x hybridus double bicolour
Helleborus x hybridus picotee

 

 

 

Post Office Farm Nursery will be open to the public on every Sunday from now until the end of September.

As a production Nursery we are not usually open, so this is a rare chance to see how we propagate and grow our Hellebores.  You can also view an unmatched range of Hellebores available for sale.

We are open from 10am to 4pm every Sunday in June, July, August and September.

We are at 934 Ashbourne Road, Ashbourne, Victoria (just out of Woodend in the Macedon Ranges).

Now is a perfect time to plant Hellebores and we have some 50 different varieties of Hellebore available in the 1 year old tubestock size (same size as the plants we post out from our online shop).  So if you are looking for tubestock Hellebores to plant, June is a good time to visit.  However, if you want to see our display bed and stock plants looking at their best and see our range of larger flowering sized plants then a visit a bit later in July or August is ideal.

Also at 11am and 2pm on every open Sunday there are guided tours of the Nursery with lots of information about growing and getting the best from your Hellebores.  We are an easy one hour drive from Melbourne and our sales/display area is fully undercover.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Online Hellebore Shop Open

For those a bit too far away to visit in person, you can select our full 2017 range of Hellebores by visiting our online Hellebore Shop and we will post them to your door.

Visit our online Hellebore Store by clicking here.

 

The onset of some cooler weather and very cold nights and we are seeing the Hellebores putting on some new growth and the emergence of the swelling buds which will be this years flowers in a couple of months time.  Always an exciting time for us.

Thanks to all those who have already ordered their Hellebores for this season.  We have had lots of orders and some items are selling fast.

Now is the perfect time to plant Hellebores as they will grow away nicely through Winter and into Spring.

Please click on the link below to see our wonderful selection for this season.

And see below for a few Autumn maintenance tips for your Hellebores.

 

Click here to order Hellebores

 

Helleborus x hybridus ‘yellow dark centre’

 

Helleborus x hybridus “Double white spotted”

 

Autumn Maintenance tips for Hellebores

Now is the best time to remove the old foliage on established Hellebores and give them a feed.

For Helleborus x hybridus varieties that have been planted for two or more years and are a reasonable size you can remove all of the old foliage right down to the ground.  Leave any new growth.  This will tidy up your plants and show off the flowers this winter to better effect.  For the taller shrubby species Hellebores such as H. argutifolius, H. lividus, H. x sternii or H. foetidus, don’t remove the foliage now, wait till after flowering in spring.  Also a good idea to remove any build up of mulch or leaves from around the base of the plant to allow for good light and air movement.

At the same time you can give your Hellebores some food.  Any complete fertiliser (ie one that has nitrogen, potassium and phosphorous) such a dynamic lifter or osmocote will be fine.  A light dressing of dolomite lime will also be appreciated.

For more information visit the ‘Growing Hellebores’ pages of our website here.

 

Over next few weeks will be attending two really wonderful specialist plant fairs, one in NSW and one in Victoria…

Collectors Plant Fair, NSW

This event has become a treasured institution in the Sydney gardening calendar.  Held at the Hawkesbury Race Club at Clarendon on the weekend of the 8th and 9th of April this fair will feature over 70 specialist nurseries in the one spot.  We will have a nice range of our new seasons Hellebores available for sale. Pictures of a couple of the varieties are shown below.  More info here.

Tesselaar Gardening and Plants Expo, Vic

This event is one of our favourites and held in the beautiful surrounds of the gardens at Tesselaar at Silvan.  The Expo will be held on the weekend of April 22 and 23.  Again we will have nice stocks of our new seasons Hellebores.  More info here.

 

If you can’t make either of these events, but still need some Hellebores, then our Hellebore Shop is now open…

Visit our Hellebore Shop here

 

Helleborus x hybridus double bicolour
Helleborus x hybridus picotee

 

 

We are pleased to announce that the Post Office Farm Nursery Hellebore Shop is open for the 2017 season.

There are three brand new varieties  and several that we have not offered for a few years.

We have made significant improvements to our water storage at the nursery over the past year and as a result the Hellebores are looking the best we can remember.  Autumn is the ideal time to get Hellebores planted, so have a look around our new look shop.

 

Click here to visit the Hellebore Shop

 

Images of a few of our 2017 varieties:

Helleborus x hybridus double green spotted
Helleborus x hybridus double apricot peach
Helleborus x hybridus Double veined

 

 

 

Hellebore Shop closing soon

Thank you very much to everyone who have ordered Hellebores this year.

At the end of October we will be closing our Online Hellebore Store for this year.  We have most varieties still available and they are looking really good and are ready to plant.  Last chance to get a few Hellebores in the garden this year.

Visit the Hellebore Store here to see our range

 

More Spring Plant Fairs

There are some ‘must do’ events for gardeners over next few weeks.  And we will be there, so drop in and say hello.

Firstly, there is the exciting new Botanic and Rare Plant Fair which will be held at the Melbourne Botanic Gardens on the weekend of 22 and 23 of October.  Lots of interesting Plant stalls and an impressive line up of talks and panel discussions on all things horticultural.  See here for more information.

Those living in Central Victoria may wish to get along to the Castlemaine Garden Market on Sunday 30th October.  It is held in parkland off Duke St, Castlemaine (opposite the Castle Motel) between 8am and 1pm.

And for gardeners in NSW you should think about seeing us at the wonderful Crookwell Garden Festival Market on Saturday 5th November.  See here for more information.

 

 

Spring maintenance tips for Hellebores

Hellebores have generally finished (or nearly finished) flowering now and should be putting on plenty of leafy growth.  Unless you want lots of seedlings coming up next winter, you might like to remove spent flowering stems before they drop seed.  This will also help the plant expend its energy in root and shoot growth rather than seed production.

If your Hellebores are putting on plenty of growth a little liquid feeding now wont hurt, but the main time for fertilising is late Autumn and into Winter.  Hellebores are not fussy about types of fertiliser – any of the commonly available liquid feeds at the standard rate will be fine.

Remove any old tatty or diseased looking growth (but leave the nice new growth).  And finally keep your Hellebores well mulched over summer.  And most importantly: young plants put into the ground this season will need a bit of extra watering over Summer if it is dry.

Happy gardening!

 

red-garden dble-white-garden

While we have been enjoying some milder weather over the past few weeks, it is also producing plenty of lovely Spring leafy growth on the Hellebores.  We still have lots of lovely Hellebores in flower at the nursery and the stockhouse is looking a treat right now.  Things are very busy at the moment; trying to get lots of hand pollination done so we can have plenty of nice plants in future years as well as tubing up the newly germinated seedlings.  The good Winter rainfall across south eastern Australia is laying the foundations for a good year in the garden.

 

Nursery Open Days

We are coming up to our final three open Sundays for this season.  Still plenty to see at the Nursery so if you have been meaning to visit this year, now is the time.  We are an easy hours drive from most parts of Melbourne as well as Bendigo and Ballarat.

Directions and more details of Open Days here

 

Mt Macedon Garden Lovers Fair

This is the longest running specialist plant fair held in Victoria and a very special event.  This year it will be held at the beautiful and historic ‘Bolobek’ garden at 370 Mt Macedon Rd, Macedon.  Lots of small specialist Nurseries will be in attendance.  Held on weekend of 17th and 18th of September.

More details of the Macedon Fair here

 

Hellebores by mail

We still have many varieties of Hellebores available for purchase in our Online Hellebore Store.  It is a good time to plant Hellebores and they are looking good at the moment.  Don’t miss out!

Visit our Online Hellebore Store here

 

sales2-2 dble-rose-pink

 

 

Nursery Update

We had a lovely snowfall at the Nursery last week.  Hellebores don’t mind snow and frost at all and look very picturesque in the process.

This time of the year there is lots happening at the Nursery.  Hellebore seed is germinating with the promise of next years crop of Hellebores.  The results of our breeding efforts of three years ago are becoming evident as our larger 200mm pots of Hellebores come into flower now and over the next 6 to 8 weeks.

The famous Hellebore Stock House is enjoying a late-ish season this year which means a stunning floral display during August and probably well into September this year.  We have started hand pollinating the stock plants which will hopefully yield a nice seed crop later in the year.

 

Nursery Open Days

Post Office Farm Nursery is open to the public on Sundays only from now through to the end of September.  Sundays 10am to 4pm.  We are at 934 Ashbourne Rd. Ashbourne (Just out of Woodend in the Macedon Ranges about 1 hour from Melbourne).  We are coming up to the best time to visit during late July and through August when we have lots of stunning Hellebores in flower.  And at 11am and 2 pm each Sunday we have an informative talk on Hellebores and a tour of the Nursery.

Open Days information here

 

Hellebores by mail

For those who cant get to the Nursery this Winter we continue to post Hellebores out to all States (except WA).  We have over 40 varieties in our 2016 Online Hellebore Shop.  These are 1 year old seedlings of our best hand pollinated plants.  Now is a very good time to get Hellebores into the garden.

Visit our Online Hellebore Store here

 

snow5 dble apricot peach snow1

Post Office Farm Nursery will be open to the public on every Sunday from now until the end of September.

As a production Nursery we are not usually open, so this is a rare chance to see how we propagate and grow our Hellebores.  You can also view an unmatched range of Hellebores available for sale.

We are open from 10am to 4pm every Sunday in June, July, August and September.

We are at 934 Ashbourne Road, Ashbourne (just out of Woodend in the Macedon Ranges).

Typically the peak flowering time for our Hellebores is in July and August which is when our display bed and stock house is looking at its very best.  However, now is an ideal time to plant Hellebores, so for many right now is the best time to visit the Nursery to buy the smaller tubestock varieties.

Click here for a Google Map of our location

Also at 11am and 2pm on every open Sunday there are guided tours of the Nursery with lots of information about growing and getting the best from your Hellebores.  We are an easy one hour drive from Melbourne and our sales/display area is fully undercover.

open days button2

Online Shop also Open

For those a bit too far away to visit in person, you can view our full 2016 range of Hellebores by visiting our online Hellebore Shop.

We are now using Australia Post’s eParcel service which provides notification of despatch and full tracking of your parcel.  And in good news for our Tasmanian customers, we are no longer levying an additional quarantine charge on orders from Tasmania.

Visit our online Hellebore Store by clicking here.

slate spotted

Thanks to all those who have already ordered their Hellebores for this season.

We have had lots of orders and some items are selling fast.

Now is the perfect time to plant Hellebores.

Please click on the link below to see our wonderful selection for this season.

And see below for a few Autumn maintenance tips for your Hellebores.

 

Click here to order Hellebores

Helleborus x hybridus 'double yellow spotted'
Helleborus x hybridus ‘double yellow spotted’

Autumn Maintenance for Hellebores

Mid to late autumn is the best time to remove the old foliage on established Hellebores and to feed your Hellebores.

For Helleborus x hybridus varieties that have been planted for two or more years and are a reasonable size you can remove all of the old foliage right down to the ground.  Leave any new growth.  This will tidy up your plants and show off the flowers this winter to better effect.  For the taller shrubby species Hellebores such as H. argutifolius, H. lividus, H. x sternii or H. foetidus, don’t remove the foliage now, wait till after flowering in spring.

At the same time you can give your Hellebores some food.  Any complete fertiliser (ie one that has nitrogen, potassium and phosphorous) such a dynamic lifter or osmocote will be fine.  A light dressing of dolomite lime will also be appreciated.

For more information visit the ‘Growing Hellebores’ pages of our website here.

 

Helleborus x hybridus double rose pink
Helleborus x hybridus double rose pink

 

 

 

 

Autumn arrives and another Hellebore season begins.

Five brand new varieties never offered before, another six old favourites not offered last year and forty two different varieties of Hellebore in total.

We have also given our website a new look and we very happy with the results.

So have a look around our new website and 2016 Hellebore Shop.  We will begin posting out orders after Easter.

Click here to go to our Hellebore Store

 

Plant Fairs

In April there are another two Plant Fairs we will be attending.  If you are in the area come along and say hello.

Tesselaar Garden and Plants Expo (Dandenongs)

A wonderful Plant Fair, this event will be held on the weekend of the 2nd and 3rd of April 2016 at the beautiful Tesselaar Gardens in Silvan.  Open from 9am to 4pm both days.  See this website for more information.

 Collectors Plant Fair (NSW)

Now in its 11th year, this is a much treasured event for keen gardeners and plant collectors in NSW.  This year it will be held on the 9th and 10th of April at the Hawkesbury Race Club at Clarendon, NSW.  See here for more information.

 

Helleborus x hybridus double picotee
Helleborus x hybridus double picotee

 

Post Office Farm Nursery will be attending two early Autumn Plant Fairs before Easter this year with lots of nice new seasons Hellebores ready for planting.  These Fairs are all great events for keen gardeners and plant lovers with many other specialist nurseries attending. Details of each Fair is below.

Plant Fair at Lanyon Homestead, Tharwa, ACT

is organized by the Horticultural Society of Canberra and will take place on the weekend of 12th and 13th of March 2016 at historic Lanyon Homestead, Tharwa, ACT.  This is a must see event for gardeners in the ACT and surrounding areas.  See the HSOC website for more information.

The Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show

will be at the Royal Exhibition Building and Carlton Gardens, Melbourne from Wednesday 16th March to Sunday 20th March 2016. We will be at site B38 (on the path which runs parallel to Victoria St., between the entry gate and Nicholson St.) See this website for more details.

 

Online Hellebore store

Our store will be reopening in late March with an unmatched range of quality Hellebores for the new season.  We will be sending an email to those on our mailing list to advise when the store is open.  A picture of one of the new varieties for 2016 is below.

Helleborus x hybridus double primrose picotee
Helleborus x hybridus double primrose picotee

Mail order closes at end of October

Thank you very much to all those who have ordered Hellebores this year.

On October 30 we will be closing our Online Hellebore Store.  We have quite a few varieties still available and they are looking good and ready to plant.  Last chance to get a few Hellebores in the garden before Summer.

 

Click here to go to our Online Hellebore Store

 

Spring jobs for your Hellebores.

Hellebores have generally finished (or nearly finished) flowering now and should be putting on plenty of leafy growth.  Unless you want lots of seedlings coming up next winter, you might like to remove spent flowering stems now.  This will also help the plant expend its energy in root and shoot growth rather than seed production.

If your Hellebores are putting on plenty of growth a little liquid feeding now wont hurt, but the main time for fertilising is late Autumn and into Winter.  Hellebores are not fussy about types of fertiliser – any of the commonly available liquid feeds at the standard rate will be fine.

Remove any old tatty or diseased looking growth (but leave the nice new growth).  Keep your Hellebores well mulched over summer and, most importantly, any young Hellebores planted this season will definitely appreciate some extra water over Summer, especially if it is hot.

Happy gardening!

griffith vase

 

Winter 2015 has been the coldest we have experienced in our time in the Macedon Ranges.  This has slowed down the flowering of the Hellebores, so that we are still pretty much enjoying peak flowering at the moment.

 

Hellebore Open Days

Post Office Farm Nursery will be open (from 10am to 4pm) for the next three Sundays until the end of September.  These are our final Open Days for this season.  We are at 934 Ashbourne Rd, Ashbourne (just out of Woodend).  We still have hundreds of large flowering sized Hellebores to see and buy as well as smaller tubestock.  Hellebore Talk and Nursery Tour held each Sunday at 11am and 2pm.

For more details about our Open Days click here.

 

Mail Order Hellebores

We are still posting Hellebores to all States of Australia (except WA).  Most varieties are still available and it is not too late to get your Hellebores planted to flower next year.

Go to our Online Hellebore Store here

 

Spring Plant Fairs

We will be attending two really lovely specialist Plant Fairs over the next couple of weekends.  Both Fairs will feature an array of smaller specialist Nurseries with lots of treasures for your garden.  So if you live nearby or feel like a drive, do come along and say hello.

The Red Hill Spring Garden Festival is held on Saturday September 12 (9am to 3pm) at the Red Hill Recreation Reserve on the Mornington Peninsula.  For more information click here.

The Mt Macedon Garden Lovers Fair will be held on the weekend of 19th and 20th September (10am to 4pm) and this year is being held at historic Bolobek, 370 Mt Macedon Road, Macedon.  Bolobek is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register and is noted for its magnificent garden.

 

Helleborus x hybridus yellow picotee with gold nectaries
Helleborus x hybridus yellow picotee with gold nectaries

 

 

 

 

 

 

Helleborus x hybridus white red centre
Helleborus x hybridus white red centre

 

See below for our top 5 tips for keeping your Hellebores at their best this Winter.

 

Nursery Open Days

Post Office Farm Nursery is open (from 10am to 4pm) every Sunday until the end of September.  We are now coming into the peak flowering period and the Hellebores are looking great now.  Lots of stunning flowering plants as well as smaller seedlings available for sale.  Hellebore talk and tours of the Nursery every open day at 11am and 2pm.

Click here for more information about our Nursery Open Days.

 

Mail Order Hellebores

We have most of our 2015 varieties still available to mail order to all states (except WA).  Now is the ideal time to get Hellebores planted in your garden.

Click here to visit our Online Hellebore Shop.

 

Top 5 Winter maintenance tips for your Hellebores:

i) if you have not done so already it is a good idea to remove some/all old foliage from older plants to open up the base of the plant to air and light.  Cut it right down to the base.  Remove any mouldy/rotten stems also.

ii) Clear mulch/debris from around the base of the plant as this will help prevent possible fungal disease during wet weather.

iii) If you did not apply a controlled release fertiliser in Autumn then consider applying some complete fertiliser to Hellebores or giving them a liquid feed.

iv) If you have lots of Hellebore seedlings emerging around your Hellebores, consider removing or thinning them out to prevent things getting too crowded.

v) Assess the position of your Hellebores.  Are they getting enough light during Winter?  How is their drainage?  Will they get enough shade in Summer?  If you need to move established Hellebores do so in the next few weeks.

There is even more information about growing Hellebores on our website.

 

The photos below were taken in the nursery in last week or so.

 

Helleborus x hybridus 'Double yellow spotted'
Helleborus x hybridus ‘Double yellow spotted’
Helleborus x hybridus 'Slate Spotted'
Helleborus x hybridus ‘Slate Spotted’
Helleborus x hybridus 'Pale Pink'
Helleborus x hybridus ‘Pale Pink’

Post Office Farm Nursery will be open to the public every Sunday from now until the end of September.

As a production nursery we are not usually open to the public so this is a rare opportunity to visit and see a wonderful range of Hellebores during their peak flowering period.  We will have our complete 2015 Catalogue range of Hellebores available for purchase as well as spectacular larger flowering sized Hellebores.

 

We are open from 10am to 4pm, Sundays only at 934 Ashbourne Rd, Ashbourne (Woodend), Victoria.

You can find us on Google Maps here.

 

We also hold a twice daily talk about Hellebores and tour of the Nursery at 11am and 2pm on every open Sunday.  Our Hellebore talks have been getting some good reviews too!  Director of the Melbourne Botanic Gardens and Radio National presenter, Dr Tim Entwisle posted a nice review of one of our Sunday Hellebore talks on his blog.

For those that cant make it to our Open Days this Winter, we are still offering a great range of Hellebores on our Online Hellebore Shop.  Order online and we will post them out to all States, except WA.

Visit our Online Shop here.

 

A section of our Hellebore display beds at their peak during last years Open Days
A section of our Hellebore display beds at their peak during last years Open Days

 

Thanks to all those keen Gardeners who have already ordered their Hellebores for this season.

We have had lots of orders and some items are selling fast.

Now is the perfect time to plant Hellebores.

Please click on the link below to see our wonderful selection for this season.

 

Our online Hellebore Store is open now.

 

A few of the Hellebore varieties that we still have stocks of for this year:

Helleborus x hybridus 'Double Green'
Helleborus x hybridus ‘Double Green’

 

Helleborus x sternii 'Ashwood Strain'
Helleborus x sternii ‘Ashwood Strain’
Helleborus x hybridus 'Picotee'
Helleborus x hybridus ‘Picotee’

 

 

 

 

The Post Office Farm Nursery Online Hellebore Shop is now open.

There are 8 new varieties on offer this year and 40 different types of Hellebore all together.  The plants are looking really good this year and April is the perfect time of the year to get Hellebores into the garden.

Click here to visit our Hellebore Shop

 

Collectors Plant Fair – NSW

And a reminder to those of you from NSW that arguably the finest rare plant fair in Australia is being held this coming weekend, April 11th and 12th.  The Collectors Plant Fair features many small specialist plant nurseries, including Post Office Farm.  It is held at the Hawkesbury Race Club at Clarendon.  You can find more information here.

 

A few of the new varieties of Hellebore we are offering in 2015:

Helleborus x hybridus 'apricot peach spotted'
Helleborus x hybridus ‘apricot peach spotted’
Helleborus x hybridus 'double yellow spotted'
Helleborus x hybridus ‘double yellow spotted’
Helleborus x hybridus 'atrorubens hybrid'
Helleborus x hybridus ‘atrorubens hybrid’

Post Office Farm Nursery will be attending a couple of wonderful Gardening events over the next week, one in Canberra, the other in Melbourne.

Firstly, in the ACT the Plant Fair at historic Lanyon will be held this weekend the 21 and 22 March.  This is Canberra’s premier Plant Fair and we will have a nice range of Hellebores available.  For more details see here: http://www.opengarden.org.au/events/nsw_act_events.html#nsw-plantfair

Then next week we will be at the Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show (stand B38) from Wednesday 25th to Sunday 29th March.  This will be held in the Carlton Gardens and Royal Exhibition Buildings in the heart of Melbourne.  More information here: http://melbflowershow.com.au/

A couple of the varieties we will have at Lanyon and Melbourne……..

Double Black
Double Black
Double yellow picotee
Double yellow picotee

Mail order closing in 10 days

On October 31 we will be closing our Online Hellebore Store.  We still have quite a few varieties still available and they are looking good and ready to plant.  Last chance to get a few Hellebores in the garden before Summer.  Images of a few of the varieties still available are below.

You can see what we still have available at our Online Hellebore Store.

Riversdale Plant Fair

Our final fling for this year will be at the Historic Riversdale Homestead in Goulburn, NSW, on Sunday 2nd November.  We hope to have a nice range of Hellebores available for sale, so if you live anywhere near do drop in to visit and see the Garden at Riversdale as well.

See this website for more information.

Maintenance Tips for your Hellebores.

Hellebores have generally finished (or nearly finished) flowering now and should be putting on plenty of leafy growth.  Unless you want lots of seedlings coming up next winter, you might like to remove spent flowering stems now.  This will also help the plant expend its energy in root and shoot growth rather than seed production.

If your Hellebores are putting on plenty of growth a little liquid feeding now wont hurt, but the main time for fertilising is late Autumn and into Winter.  Hellebores are not fussy about types of fertiliser – any of the commonly available liquid feeds at the standard rate will be fine.

Remove any old tatty or diseased looking growth (but leave the nice new growth).  And finally keep your Hellebores well mulched over summer.  Young plants put into the ground this season will probably need a bit of extra watering over Summer if it is dry.

Happy gardening!

Helleborus x hybridus Double picotee
Helleborus x hybridus Double picotee

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