The species from which hybrid hellebores have been developed over the last fifty years extend across the Mediterranean basin, from Northern Italy through the Balkans and Greece to Turkey. There was naturally a great deal of variation in the plants grown on from seed collected in different areas.

In the rapid development of the hybrids, the work of individual collectors, breeders and nurseries can still be traced.

Today’s uniform garden-centre hybrids, on the other hand, are produced industrially by tissue cloning from small-growing varieties.

The plants in the Frogswell collection represent several of these breeding traditions. At the same time, a few new strains are being evolved from some of the most vigorous and distinctive plants.

Check the blog pages for some current favourites. A guide to the Frogswell strains is indevelopment.