Helleborus 'BLT02' Has Abundant Pink Flowers and Dark Green Leaves

Summary: Helleborus ‘BLT02,’ a new hellebore cultivar created by British plant breeders Robin and Susan White, has abundant pink flowers and dark green leaves.

Helleborus x ericsmithii ‘Angel Glow’ (‘BLT02’), Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, Feb. 27, 2013: Wendy Cutler (wlcutler), CC BY 2.0,  via Flickr

Helleborus ‘BLT02,’ a new variety of hybrid hellebore created in Hampshire, South East England, by plant breeders Robin and Susan White, has abundant pink flowers and dark green leaves.

On Dec. 15, 2008, the husband-and-wife team of Anthony Robin White and Susan Barbara White filed an application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office for a Helleborus plant named ‘BLT02.’ The inventors listed Amazing Breeders Company B.V. of Aalsmeer, North Holland province, northwestern Netherlands, as assignee. Primary examiner June Hwu reviewed the Whites’ application. On June 22, 2010, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office granted patent number PP21,093 for a Helleborus plant named ‘BLT02.’

Helleborus ‘BLT02’ originates in a hybridization conducted March 2002 at the Whites’ nursery, Blackthorn Nursery, located in the village of Kilmeston, Hampshire county, South East England. The hybridization involved a female Helleborus niger of the unpatented ‘Potter’s Wheel’ variety and a male Helleborus x sternii of the unpatented ‘Blackthorn Group’ variety. In June 2002, the hybridization’s seeds were sown in a greenhouse at Blackthorn Nursery. In February 2004 the Whites selected a single plant from the progeny.

The plant, now known as Helleborus ‘BLT02,’ subsequently underwent in vitro propagation at Amazing Breeders Company B.V. for four and one-half years. Successive propagations of Helleborus ‘BLT02’ confirmed the stable and true retention of the new variety’s distinctive characteristics.

Helleborus ‘BLT02’ presents characteristics that differ from those of its parents. The female Helleborus niger ‘Potter’s Wheel’ plants have separate flower and leaf stems. Helleborus ‘BLT02’ bears leaves and flowers on the same stems. The male Helleborus x sternii ‘Blackthorn Group’ plants put forth three leaflets per leaf. Helleborus ‘BLT02’ puts forth five leaflets per leaf.

The application’s description concerns one-year-old Helleborus ‘BLT02’ plants that were grown outdoors in Aalsmeer. Botanical details describe late-winter plants in February.

Helleborus ‘BLT02’ has a compact, mounded growth habit. Height measures 30 centimeters (11.81 inches). Helleborus ‘BLT02’ spreads to a diameter ranging from 20 to 30 centimeters (7.87 to 11.81 inches).

Upright stems reach a length of 30 centimeters (11.81 inches). Stem diameter is 20 centimeters (7.87 inches).

Stem texture is smooth. Coloring is brown purple (Royal Horticultural Society color 183C).

Leaves form an alternate arrangement along stems. Palmately compound leaves comprise leaflets with smooth surfaces and serrated edges. Leaflet shape is lanceolate (Latin: lanceolatus, “lance-shaped”), with a rounded base. Sharply pointed tips are described as acute.

Leaf length measures 20 centimeters (7.87 inches). Leaf width measures 15 centimeters (5.9 inches). Leaflet lengths range from 5 to 10 centimeters (1.96 to 3.93 inches). Leaflet widths range from 3 to 5 centimeters (1.18 to 1.96 inches).

Mature leaflets have dark green (RHS 133A) upper surfaces, with brown purple to gray green (RHS 183C, 133B) venation. Lower surfaces of mature leaflets are brown green (RHS 139C), with brown purple to brown green (RHS 183C, RHS 139C) veins.

The lengthy flowering season spans January through March. Each plant yields about three to four inflorescences. Each inflorescence yields about six to nine flowers.

Each flower in a loosely branched cluster displays five sepals. Sepal shape is ovate (Latin: ovatus, “egg-shaped”). Tips and base have a rounded shape described as rotundate. Sepals have smooth margins, known as entire, and smooth upper and lower surfaces.

Upper surfaces of fully open Helleborus ‘BLT02’ flowers are blue pink and brown green (RHS 63C, 139C). Lower surfaces of fully open flowers are blue pink, dark purple red and brown green (RHS 63C, RHS 59A, RHS 139C).

Helleborus ‘BLT02’ is available commercially as Helleborus x ericsmithii ‘Angel Glow.’ The new hellebore cultivar created by Blackthorn Nursery embellishes indoor and outdoor spaces, from winter to early spring, with abundant pink flowers and dark green leaves.

Helleborus ‘BLT02’ image included in patent application filed Dec. 15, 2008, with United States Patent and Trademark Office: Anthony Robin White and Susan Barbara White, Public Domain, via U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Helleborus x ericsmithii ‘Angel Glow’ (‘BLT02’), Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, Feb. 27, 2013: Wendy Cutler (wlcutler), CC BY 2.0,  via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/wlcutler/8515660551/

Helleborus ‘BLT02’ image included in patent application filed Dec. 15, 2008, with United States Patent and Trademark Office: Anthony Robin White and Susan Barbara White, Public Domain, via U.S. Patent and Trademark Office @ http://pdfpiw.uspto.gov/.piw?PageNum=0&docid=PP021093

For further information:

“Blacher Cape Fuchsia.” Canadian Food Inspection Agency > Plants > Plant Breeders’ Rights > Crop Reports.
Available @ http://inspection.gc.ca/english/plaveg/pbrpov/cropreport/cfus/app00005874e.shtml

Burrell, C. Colston; Judith Knott Tyler. Hellebores: A Comprehensive Guide. Portland OR: Timber Press, 2006.

“Hellebore, Lenten Rose ‘Angel Glow’ Helleborus x ericsmithii.” Dave’s Garden > Guides & Information.
Available @ http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/205813/#b

“Helleborus Angel Glow® (‘BLT02’ PP21093).” Walters Gardens > Perennial Database Search.
Available @ http://www.waltersgardens.com/plants/view/?plant=2385

“Helleborus Plant Named ‘BLT02.’” United States Patent and Trademark Office > Program in Word (PIW). June 22, 2010.
Available @ http://pdfpiw.uspto.gov/.piw?PageNum=0&docid=PP021093

International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants. “Document TGP/14: Glossary of Technical, Botanical and Statistical Terms Used in UPOV Documents.” UPOV (Union Internationale Pour la Protection des Obtentions Végétales; International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants). Dec. 9, 2006.
Available @ http://www.upov.int/edocs/mdocs/upov/en/tc_edc/2007/tgp_14_draft_1_section_2_3_2.pdf

“Lyttel Trophy: Robin and Sue White.” Alpine Garden Society > Books & Publications > Alpine News. September 2012.
Available @ http://www.alpinegardensociety.net/pdf_files/publication/R6042_AGS-News_Sept-2012_sc.pdf

Rice, Graham; Elizabeth Strangman. The Gardener’s Guide to Growing Hellebores. Newton Abbot, England: David and Charles, 2005.

“Robin White.” Timber Press > Author Profile.
Available @ http://www.timberpress.com/author/robin_white/1234