Helleborus ‘HGC Lady Freckle’ Has Red Purple-Spotted White Flowers

Summary: Helleborus ‘HGC Lady Freckle,’ a Lenten rose (Helleborus orientalis) variety by German hybridizer Joseph Heuger, has red purple-spotted white flowers.

side view of flower of Helleborus ‘HGC Lady Freckle’ 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/15600/pp15618.pdf

Helleborus ‘HGC Lady Freckle,’ a Lenten rose (Helleborus orientalis) variety by German hellebore hybridizer Joseph Heuger, has red purple-spotted white flowers.

On June 28, 2004, Heuger filed an application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office for a patent for Helleborus ‘HGC Lady Freckle.’ Primary examiner Kent Bell and assistant examiner Wendy C. Haas reviewed Heuger’s application. On March 1, 2005, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office assigned plant patent number 15,618 to Helleborus ‘HGC Lady Freckle.’

Helleborus ‘HGC Lady Freckle’ has its origins in a breeding program established in January 1999 by Joseph Heuger at his family’s nursery, Heuger Gartenbaubetriebe, in Glandorf, Lower Saxony state, northwestern Germany. Unnamed, unpatented female and male Helleborus orientalis seedlings were cross-pollinated in a controlled environment. The inventor discovered and selected the flowering plant now known as Helleborus ‘HGC Lady Freckle’ from among the cross-pollinated parents’ offspring.

The new variety displayed distinctive traits, such as attractive flower and leaf colorations; a mounded, upright habit; relatively early flowering. Propagation by divisions, begun in March 2001, confirmed the retention and true reproduction of the new cultivar’s unique features over successive generations.

Heuger’s patent application describes plants, at about 6 months of age, grown indoors in 15-centimeter (5.90-inch) containers during winter. During production, the day temperature in the glass-covered greenhouse in Glandorf registered about 18 degrees Celsius (64.4 degrees Fahrenheit). The night temperature was about 14 degrees C (57.2 degrees F).

Helleborus ‘HGC Lady Freckle’ has a temperature tolerance that ranges from minus 12 to 36 degrees C (10.4 to 96.8 degrees F).

The new cultivar’s moderately vigorous growth yields a mounded, upright plant habit, with basal leaves and single flowers. Plant height measures about 25 centimeters (9.84 inches). Width, or spread, measures about 40 centimeters (15.748 inches).

Basal foliage is palmately compound. Five to six leaflets radiate from the leaf’s single attachment point at the distal, or far, end of the petiole, or leaf stalk.

Leaflet lengths range from 6 to 9.5 centimeters (2.36 to 3.74 inches). Widths range from about 2.2 to 3.5 centimeters (0.86 to 1.37 inches).

Lanceolate, or lance-shaped, leaflets have serrated margins. Glabrous surface textures are hairlessly smooth.

Upper surfaces of fully expanded leaflets are dark green (Royal Horticultural Society colour chart color 147A). Lower surfaces are brown green (RHS 147B). Venation of upper and lower surfaces is brown green (RHS 146D).

Helleborus ‘HGC Lady Freckle’ has a relatively early and long natural blooming period. Intermittent flowering stretches from November to February in Glandorf. On the plant, flowers last about 10 days.

The new variety’s floral type and habit reveal single, outwardly drooping, rounded flowers, each in a single arrangement on short peduncles, or floral stems. Peduncles are about 4.5 centimeters (1.77 inches) in length, with a diameter of about 2 millimeters (0.07 inches).

Despite their bent orientation, peduncles are moderately strong. Their glabrous texture is hairlessly smooth. Coloring is light green (RHS 145A).

A freely flowering habit encourages about 15 developed flowers per plant over the blooming period. Typically each plant has more than one flowering stem.

Ovoid, or egg-shaped, flower buds measure a diameter of about 1 centimeter (0.39 inches) and a height of about 1.5 centimeters (0.59 inches). Bud coloring is light green (RHS 145C to 145D).

Flowers have minute petals that form inconspicuous nectaries. Sepals typically number five per flower, forming a single whorl.

Sepal length and width have identical measurements. Sepals measure 3 centimeters (1.18 inches) in length and also in width.

Broadly ovate, or egg-shaped, sepals have smooth, untoothed margins, described as entire. Glabrous upper and lower surface textures are hairlessly and satiny smooth.

Upper and lower surfaces of developing and fully expanded sepals are white (RHS 155C). Spots toward the center of upper surfaces are dark purple red (RHS 59B).

The takeaway for Helleborus ‘HGC Lady Freckle’ is the lengthy opportunities, via the new Heuger hellebore’s early and extensive blooming period, for enjoyment of red purple-spotted white flowers that top light green floral stems and contrast attractively with dark green leaves.

closeup of Helleborus ‘HGC Lady Freckle’ flower 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/15600/pp15618.pdf

Acknowledgment

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

Image credits:

side view of flower of Helleborus ‘HGC Lady Freckle’ 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/15600/pp15618.pdf

closeup of Helleborus ‘HGC Lady Freckle’ flower 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/15600/pp15618.pdf

For further information:

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

“Helleborus Plant Named ‘HGC Lady Freckle.’” United States Patent and Trademark Office > Program in Word (PIW). March 1, 2005.
Available @ http://pdfpiw.uspto.gov/.piw?PageNum=0&docid=PP015618

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. “Helleborus ‘HGC Double Surprise’ Has Purple-Spotted White Double Flowers.” Earth and Space News. Sunday, Jan. 22, 2017.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/01/helleborus-hgc-double-surprise-has.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Helleborus ‘HGC Josef Lemper’ Has White Flowers and Dark Green Leaves." Earth and Space News. Saturday, Jan. 28, 2017.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/01/helleborus-hgc-josef-lemper-has-white.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

“PP15618 -- Helleborus Plant Named ‘HGC Lady Freckle.’” University of Maryland > Plant Patents Image Database.
Available @ http://www.lib.umd.edu/plantpatents/id/11584

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