Helleborus ‘HGC Double Surprise’ Has Purple-Spotted White Double Flowers

Summary: Helleborus ‘HGC Double Surprise,’ a hybrid Helleborus orientalis cultivar by German helleborist Joseph Heuger, has purple-spotted white double flowers.

closeup of flower of Helleborus ‘HGC Double Surprise’ in images included in Joseph Heuger’s patent application, filed June 28, 2004, with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO): color scans via Plant Patents Image Database, Engineering & Physical Science Library (USPTO designation: College Park Patent & Trademark Resource Center), University of Maryland, CC BY 2.0, via University of Maryland’s Plant Patents Image Database @ http://www.lib.umd.edu/plantpatents/binaries/15500/pp15530.pdf

Helleborus ‘HGC Double Surprise,’ a hybrid cultivar of the Lenten rose (Helleborus orientalis) by German hellebore hybridizer Joseph Heuger, has purple-spotted white double flowers and sells under the trade name of ‘Double Surprise’ in the Heuger family’s prestigious Helleborus Gold Collection® (HGC®).

On June 28, 2004, Heuger filed an application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office for a patent for Helleborus ‘HGC Double Surprise.’ Primary examiner Kent Bell and assistant examiner Wendy C. Haas reviewed Heuger's application. On Feb. 1, 2005, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office assigned plant patent number 15,530 to a Helleborus plant named 'HGC Double Surprise.'

Helleborus ‘HGC Double Surprise’ has its origins in a breeding program conducted in January 1999 by the inventor at his family’s nursery, Heuger Gartenbaubetriebe, in Glandorf, Lower Saxony state, northwestern Germany. The program cross-pollinated unnamed, unpatented female and male Helleborus orientalis seedlings. The inventor discovered and selected the flowering plant now known as ‘HGC Double Surprise’ from among the program’s progeny.

Selection of ‘HGC Double Surprise’ was based upon the presence of distinctive features. ‘HGC Double Surprise’ has an upright habit, typically with more than one flowering stem per plant, and a lengthy blooming period. Flowers, which are double, display attractive coloring of white spotted with purple. Propagation by divisions demonstrated retention and true reproduction of the new cultivar’s unique traits over successive generations.

Heuger’s application describes 6-month-old plants growing indoors in 15-centimeter (5.9 -inch) containers in winter. Day temperatures, during production in glass-covered greenhouses at the Heuger family’s nursery in Glandorf, were around 18 degrees Celsius (64.4 degrees Fahrenheit). Night temperatures registered about 14 degrees C (57.2 degrees F).

Helleborus ‘HGC Double Surprise’ is tolerant of temperatures ranging from minus 12 to 36 degrees C (10.4 to degrees 96.8 F).

The upright plant habit profiles as an inverted triangle, with basal leaves, upright flower stalks (peduncles) and double flowers. Height reaches about 42 centimeters (16.52 inches). Spread, or width, measures about 30 centimeters (11.81 inches).

Basal leaves are palmately compound, with five to seven leaflets radiating outward from the point of attachment with the petiole, or leaf stalk. Leaflet lengths range from about 4 to 13 centimeters (1.57 to 5.11 inches). Leaflet widths range from about 1.2 to 5.5 centimeters (0.47 to 2.16 inches).

Leaflets are lanceolate, or lance-shaped. Their margins are serrated. Upper and lower surfaces are described as glabrous, with hairless smoothness.

Upper surfaces of fully developed leaflets are dark green (Royal Horticultural Society colour chart color 137A). Upper surface veins are brown green (RHS 146D).

Lower surfaces are brown green (RHS 147B). Lower surface veins are brown green (RHS 146C).

Helleborus ‘HGC Double Surprise’ features a lengthy blooming period. Intermittent flowering lasts from January through March in Glandorf.

A freely flowering habit yields about 15 developed flowers per plant over the blooming period. On the plant, flowers last about 10 days.

Double rounded, somewhat weeping flowers are borne as terminal cymes (Latin: cyma, “young cabbage shoot”). A central-stemmed, single terminal flower develops first in the cymose cluster. Other flowers develop as terminal buds on lateral stems.

The flower’s tiny petals form inconspicuous nectaries. Each flower typically has 17 to 20 sepals in an arrangement of three whorls.

Sepal length measures about 3.5 centimeters (1.37 inches). Sepal width is about 3 centimeters (1.18 inches).

Broadly ovate, or egg-shaped, sepals have smooth, untoothed margins, described as entire. Described as glabrous, upper and lower surfaces are satiny and hairlessly smooth.

Upper surfaces of fully expanded sepals are white (RHS 155A), with dark purple red (RHS 187C) spots toward the center. With development, coloring nears light green (RHS 145C).

Lower surfaces of fully expanded sepals are between light green (RHS 145D) and white (RHS 155A) in color. Coloring toward the base is light green (RHS 145A).

Peduncles, or flower-bearing stems, are upright, with a tendency for slight bending under floral weights. Lengths range from about 20 to 30 centimeters (7.87 to 11.81 inches), with diameters of 5 to 8 millimeters (0.19 to 0.31 inches).

Described as glabrous, peduncles are smooth and lack down or hair. Their coloring is brown green (RHS 146B), with an overlay of dark purple red (RHS 187C).

Upright pedicels, or stalks, attach flowers to peduncles and have a tendency for slight bending under floral weights. Pedicel lengths range from about 4 to 15 centimeters (1.57 to 5.9 inches). Diameters are about 5 to 8 millimeters (0.19 to 0.31 inches).

Pedicels are glabrous, with hairless smoothness. Their coloring is light green (RHS 145C).

The takeaway for Helleborus ‘HGC Double Surprise’ as temperature-tolerant, winter and spring bloomer with purple-spotted white double flowers is the hellebore’s commercial availability in the Heuger family’s prestigious Helleborus Gold Collection® for attractive placements, as cut and potted showpieces, indoors and outdoors.

side view of Helleborus ‘HGC Double Surprise’ in images included in Joseph Heuger’s patent application, filed June 28, 2004, with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO): color scans via Plant Patents Image Database, Engineering & Physical Science Library (USPTO designation: College Park Patent & Trademark Resource Center), University of Maryland, CC BY 2.0, via University of Maryland’s Plant Patents Image Database @ http://www.lib.umd.edu/plantpatents/binaries/15500/pp15530.pdf

Acknowledgment

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

Image credits:

closeup of flower of Helleborus ‘HGC Double Surprise’ in images included in Joseph Heuger’s patent application, filed June 28, 2004, with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO): color scans via Plant Patents Image Database, Engineering & Physical Science Library (USPTO designation: College Park Patent & Trademark Resource Center), University of Maryland, CC BY 2.0, via University of Maryland’s Plant Patents Image Database @ http://www.lib.umd.edu/plantpatents/binaries/15500/pp15530.pdf

side view of Helleborus ‘HGC Double Surprise’ in images included in Joseph Heuger’s patent application, filed June 28, 2004, with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO): color scans via Plant Patents Image Database, Engineering & Physical Science Library (USPTO designation: College Park Patent & Trademark Resource Center), University of Maryland, CC BY 2.0, via University of Maryland’s Plant Patents Image Database @ http://www.lib.umd.edu/plantpatents/binaries/15500/pp15530.pdf

For further information:

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

“Hellebore (Helleborus Gold Collection® Double Surprise).” The National Gardening Association > Plants Database > Hellebores.
Available @ http://garden.org/plants/view/642677/Hellebore-Helleborus-Gold-Collection-Double-Surprise/

“Helleborus Plant Named ‘HGC Double Surprise.’” United States Patent and Trademark Office > Program in Word (PIW). Feb. 1, 2005.
Available @ http://pdfpiw.uspto.gov/.piw?PageNum=0&docid=PP015530

International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants. “Document TGP/14: Glossary of Technical, Botanical and Statistical Terms Used in UPOV Documents. Section 2: Botanical Terms: Subsection 3: Color: (2): Color Names for the RHS Colour Chart.” UPOV (Union Internationale Pour la Protection des Obtentions Végétales). Dec. 9, 2006.
Available @ http://www.upov.int/edocs/mdocs/upov/en/tc_edc?2007/tgp_14_draft_1_section_2_3_2.pdf

Marriner, Derdriu. “Helleborus ‘COSEH 210’ Has Large White Flowers and Sells as ‘HGC Joel’®.” Earth and Space News. Sunday, Jan. 8, 2017.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/01/helleborus-coseh-210-has-large-white.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “Helleborus ‘COSEH 710’ Has Light Green Flowers With Reddish Pink Flushes.” Earth and Space News. Sunday, Nov. 13, 2016.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/11/helleborus-coseh-710-has-light-green.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “Helleborus ‘COSEH 740’ Has White Flowers and Dark Green Leaves.” Earth and Space News. Saturday, Nov. 26, 2016.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/11/helleborus-coseh-740-has-white-flowers.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “A Helleborus Plant Named ‘COSEH 700’ Has Large Light Green Flowers.” Earth and Space News. Saturday, Nov. 12, 2016.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/11/a-helleborus-plant-named-coseh-700-has.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “A Helleborus Plant Named ‘HGC Jacob’ Has White to Light Green Flowers.” Earth and Space News. Sunday, Nov. 6, 2016.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/11/a-helleborus-plant-named-hgc-jacob-has.html

“PP15530 -- Helleborus Plant Named ‘HGC Double Surprise.’” University of Maryland > Plant Patents Image Database.
Available @ http://www.lib.umd.edu/plantpatents/id/11496

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