Potted Christmas Rose Turning Brown? Hey, Don't Quit on It!
Did you fall in love over the holidays with a cute little potted Christmas Rose plant at your local nursery? Could you not resist buying it, bringing it home, and setting it up on your mantel so your family and friends could admire its beautiful white flowers and lush green foliage while they guzzled eggnog and stuffed themselves on fruitcake? And now, is that gorgeous little potted Christmas Rose turning brown on you? Hey, don’t be a fair-weather friend and give up on it. That tough little plant still has loads of life left in it. Keep it right here to see what I mean, and learn how to snap that Christmas Rose right out of its funk. It’s way easier than you might think.
By John G. Stamos
Table of Contents
The "Potted Christmas Rose Turning Brown" Phenomenon: What's Up with That?
Greetings, girls and boys, and welcome. Got a follow-up article for you right here. And it’s written in response to an excellent question from Rick E. in the “Comments” section of my RGG article of last month, “Know and Love the Christmas Rose: Helleborus niger,” and in response to a number of similar readers’ questions sent in to the RGG’s “Contact” page. Basically, Rick and his fellow RGG readers were all asking about the same phenomenon: They’d purchased potted Christmas Rose plants (Helleborus niger, or more than likely an H. niger hybrid) that, shortly after arriving home, began to turn brown and, apparently, quickly die. Rick’s take on this situation, as well as that of his fellow querying readers is understandable. Very often, when a new, potted Christmas Rose plant is purchased from a nursery and brought home to sit indoors while it waits for hospitable planting conditions outdoors, its foliage will turn brown (though its blooms may or may not remain robust and even begin to show swollen seed pods, each complete complete with up to eight or nine developing seeds), and the plant will appear to die. So, what’s up with that? At this point, is it time to introduce your new, yet ostensibly departed Christmas Rose to the compost heap? Nah. It ain’t.
“Ok, so why does it look like it’s dying, and what can I do to help it out?”
Keep reading to get the answers to these questions, and to check out a few tried-and-true products that are instrumental in my own potted Christmas Rose salvation efforts. You’ll also get a really info-packed Bibliography/For Further Reading list, in case you’d like to explore this topic in greater depth. Here you go…
Why is my potted Christmas Rose turning brown? When all is said and done, there's really only one basic reason: relocation shock.
Relocation shock. If you caught my RGG article of November of 2023, “Help Your Tropical Plants Recover from Relocation Shock,” you’ll know that sometimes, the simple act of moving a potted plant from one location/environment to another, different location/environment can result in the plant going into shock. And it’s not necessarily only tropical plants that fall victim to this phenomenon. The symptoms of plant relocation shock are very similar to what Rick and his fellow RGG readers are describing as what’s happened to their own potted hellebores: browning leaves, wilting and withering stems, etc. In fact, not only are those symptoms similar, they’re exactly the same. Yep. Rick and company’s Christmas Roses had gone into relocation shock, and not only did this happen to their potted Christmas Rose plants, it’s also happened (and continues to happen every time I buy a potted Christmas Rose and let it hang out in my house over the winter) to mine.
What are the underlying causes of potted Christmas Rose relocation shock?
So, relocation shock is the primary culprit behind the pheneomenon of your potted Christmas roses turning brown on you inside your house. But you can’t blame yourself entirely for putting the relocation whammy on your extra-crispy H. niger. Nope. The process started before you ever bought it and moved it into your home. Here are a few facts for you to chew on:
- Temperature and daylight signals. Christmas Rose plants are called Christmas Roses for a reason: they bloom during the coldest months of the year – and during days with shortest daylight hours – in virtually every hardiness zone in which they thrive, namely late fall and early winter. Temperatures must be low (even in the warmest zone in which they grow, zone 9, wintertime is still cold, with temperatures between 20° and 30° Fahrenheit), and days must be comparatively short, for these plants to shoot up new foliage and flower buds, and subsequently bloom. They rely on an interaction between a flower-inducing protein called Locus T and a daylight-dependent photoreceptor protein called FKF1 to trigger the growth and flowering processes.¹⁻² But, unlike typical spring and summer-flowering plants that need warmer temperatures and longer periods of sunlight exposure in order for the two types of proteins to induce new foliage growth and flowering, the hellebore’s biology has the Locus T/FKF1 interaction jump-starting flowering (and new foliage formation) during periods of colder temperatures and shorter periods of daylight. Which are exactly the conditions that hellebore growers maintain for the plants that end up all flowery and leafy-green at your local nursery just in time for the holidays.³⁻⁴ So your currently browning and shriveling Christmas Rose was flowering and leafing out happily in some grower’s cold frame or unheated greenhouse just before it was shipped to the nursery where you bought it. And guess what happened when you brought it to your home and subjected it to all that warmth and artificial daylight? Bingo. It suffered plant relocation shock. It went from one kind of environment featuring cold temperatures and shortened days’ worth of natural sunlight to another entirely different environment complete with continual unnatural warmth and light. And truthfully, if you were to think hard about the overall appearance of your potted Christmas Rose while it sat on its display rack at your nursery (assuming it was displayed indoors), you’ll probably remember that some of its foliage had already begun displaying the symptoms of plant relocation shock.
- Timing. The best time to plant a potted Christmas Rose outdoors is mid fall to early spring, as long as the ground is workable. In my hardiness zone of 5B/6A, the ground is generally frozen solid and completely unworkable when Christmas Rose plants hit the retail market. Believe me, if I could’ve dug a hole in the ground in my garden outdoors whenever I’d purchased a potted Christmas Rose, I would have dug that hole and planted that Christmas Rose right outside in the cold of winter, where it would have been perfectly happy. And we wouldn’t even be talking about the whole turning-brown-and-shriveling-up plant shock thing.
How Do I Reverse the Symptoms of Plant Relocation Shock and the Process of My Potted Christmas Rose Turning Brown?
When you see your new potted Christmas Rose turning brown, and realize that the plant is suffering from relocation shock, there are a few things that you can do (short of immediately planting your Christmas Rose in your outdoor garden, which is the best thing you can do for it) to reverse the process and return your Helleborus niger to a healthy green state. Assuming that you’re in the same boat as me and the ground in your outdoor garden is frozen and unworkable, the following steps will work wonders for getting your little H. niger plant back on track.
Move your Christmas Rose to a bigger pot.
This is a no-brainer, but it’s slightly more complicated than just pulling the plant out of the little (cramped) pot it came in and sticking it in a bigger one along with a few more handfuls of dirt. Do it like this:
- Make sure the new pot has ample drainage. Although hellebores are drought tolerant, they prefer moist, well-drained soil. So it’s important that you keep your new Christmas Rose watered, but even more important that all that water doesn’t sit and stew in the pot, and rot your hellebore’s root system. Letting your Christmas Rose sit in soggy, non-draining soil will kill it faster than anything else ever possibly could.
- Liberate the roots. All hellebores, including Christmas Roses, have a deep and extensive taproot system. This amazing, deep-reaching root network is what gives the hellebore its remarkable wintertime capabilities, and what allows it to get through hot and dry summers. Many times, in addition to its typically small (generally 6″) plastic pot, your newly-purchased hellebore’s roots may also be contained within a biodegradable pot liner (usually composed of manure, peat, rice, hulls, coconut fiber, etc.). If this is the case, using a sharp blade (a razor knife is perfect), remove the biodegradable liner and liberate the roots. You can also make light vertical scores in the plant’s actual rootball itself to increase individual root expansion and mobility into the surrounding soil. In its new, larger, temporary container, your hellebore will have the necessary room to begin developing its all-important tap root system.
- Raise the soil’s pH. Hellebores, in general, like slightly alkaline soil – Christmas Roses even more so than their Lenten Rose brethren (H. orientalis and H. x hybridus). A pH level of anywhere between 7.2 and 8.0 should be great. So, when you’re moving your plant shock-suffering Christmas Rose to its new, bigger pot, add a few handfuls of garden lime to the new soil, and mix it in well. Although the lime may take up to several weeks to begin raising alkalinity levels, having it there from the beginning will ensure that the plant begins receiving the benefits of higher pH levels before it makes its move outdoors to its future home in your garden, and will help it start looking and feeling its best while it hangs out inside your house with you.
Prune off dead and dying foliage.
Getting rid of your Christmas Rose’s leaves that have turned brown, and are withering and dying will encourage new leaf growth to emerge from the plant’s root system. Find a dead leaf and follow its shoot down as close to the soil level as possible and snip it there, being careful not to cut any new growth that may be emerging from the soil. If the leaf appears substantially more green than brown, I’ll leave it in place. While it’s still mostly green, it will continue convert light into energy for the plant through photosynthesis. But once the leaf appears more brown and shriveled than green and vital, I lop it off.
Prune off dead and dying flowers, and flowers showing swollen seed pods.
Obviously, removing dead flowers is critical in clearing the way for your recovering hellebore to develop new growth. This is done in exactly the same way as dead leaf removal. Follow the flower stem as far down as possible and cut it there.* Just as important as removing dead flowers from your Christmas Rose is the removal of healthy flowers with swelling seed pods. Those swelling seed pods routinely contain eight or nine developing hellebore seeds. The point in removing flowers featuring these developing seeds pertains to the fact that seed development requires tons of energy from the plant. Since we’re trying to get your Christmas Rose out of the relocation shock funk, we’re going to want to make sure that all of its energy goes into developing new foliage. Leaving Christmas Rose flowers in place that happen to be sporting swelling seed pods isn’t going to stop your hellebore from rejuvenating itself, but it’ll slow the process down. Obviously, if you’re looking to propagate your Christmas Rose, letting those seeds develop, then harvesting them, is a good plan. I will, however, issue my standard disclaimer here: Although I’m not a lawyer, I can tell you that unlicensed propagation of a patented plant of any kind is illegal. So, harvest and sow at your own risk.
*Note: Remember, a potted Christmas Rose turning brown is in a position to accept as much help as it can get, so there is one deviation I make to my hellebore flower deadheading methodology. In the case of a particular Christmas Rose I happen to be working on that hasn’t really begun to send up new foliage shoots, when I deadhead a flower with swelling seed pods, and its shoot possesses healthy green bracts, I’ll leave those bracts in place and make my cut directly above them, removing only the flower with its developing seeds, and leaving the bracts in place. In this way, the bracts, engaging in the process of photosynthesis, will continue to deliver energy to the plant. Again, in the case of a potted Christmas Rose turning brown, this continual supply of energy from functioning green foliage is critical.
Listen, gang, I realize that cutting a bunch of flowers off of your Christmas Rose sort of defeats the purpose of having a Christmas Rose in the first place. But look at it this way… by removing dead and seed-setting flowers now, you’re boosting your hellebore’s vitality and setting it up for successful flowering in your garden for years to come. Small sacrifice, no?
Let there be light! (But not too much.)
When they’re growing outdoors, hellebores thrive in generally shady conditions. A little sunlight is ok for a Christmas Rose, but direct sunlight in large amounts will wreck its foliage and could potentially kill the plant. I keep these facts in mind when I’m nursing my own Christmas Roses back to glossy green good health indoors after a bout with relocation shock. For my own H. niger population, I’ve found that, while they’re in my house recuperating, reasonably bright to moderately bright indirect light works wonders. I NEVER place them diretly in a full sun location. When you’re helping your own potted Christmas Roses rebound, indirect light is what you’ll want to give them. Be kind. They’ve been through a lot.
Potted Christmas Rose turning brown? Too much water sure ain't gonna help the situation.
I mention this again because it’s definitely true and it’s definitely critical. Hellebores like moist, well-drained soil. The “well-drained” part is hugely important. If it’s stewing in soggy muck, your potted Christmas Rose turning brown right before your very eyes is the show you’ll be watching. And, as a bonus, you’ll also get to watch it die right before your very eyes. No joke. Water your Christmas Rose, but make sure that its pot allows for ample drainage. And if the pot sits in a saucer, empty the saucer when it fills up with that drainage. You don’t want any part of your hellebore’s root system soaking in standing, muddy water.
Hellebores are highly toxic. Please read the following:
The little disclaimer that follows has been ressurected from an earlier RGG article about hellebores. And paying attention to it is just as critical now as it was when it first appeared here in The RGG. So listen up, kids. I’m damned serious here:
Hellebores (including H. niger/H. niger hybrids and H. orientalis/H. x hybridus) are toxic to all mammals, including humans. They contain three active ingredients, glycosides, saponin, and helleborin, each of which adversely and acutely affects a separate, specific bodily function. Ingesting any part of a hellebore can be fatal. Don’t eat any part of a hellebore, don’t let your kids eat any part of a hellebore, and don’t let your pets eat any part of a hellebore. Got it? I’m absolutely serious. These things can kill you.
Product Recommendations to Help You Reverse the Process of Your Potted Christmas Rose Turning Brown
I’ve got three good ones for you. I use all of them when I’m fighting this particular good fight. Here you go…
Fiskars 6” Micro-tip Pruning Snips. This pruner is the absolutely perfect tool for cutting delicate stems and removing nodes from main stems when training or shaping a specific plant. Its razor-sharp micro-tip steel blades are ideally suited for pruning smaller and soft-stemmed plants. I have an older version of the same model and it’s remained just as razor-sharp, precise, and effective as it was on the day I took it out of its package. I’ll never get rid of it. I use mine for pruning and deadheading houseplants, succulents, and for all outdoor garden pruning that requires intricate, delicate, and precise cutting. Click the #advertisement link to learn more, or to order it here, directly from Amazon.
Espoma Organic Garden Lime is the perfect product for increasing alkalinity levels in soil. It can be mixed with the bedding soil, or used to top dress soil around plants which are already in the ground. I use this to amend the soil of any of my plants with a preference for alkaline pH levels, like my hellebores. Order this product here, from Amazon, by clicking the #advertisement link.
Luster Leaf Rapitest 4-way Soil Analyzer. I bought this Luster Leaf Rapitest 4-way soil analysis meter in February of 2022 and have used it successfully time and time again since then to test for soil fertility and pH levels. It also measures sunlight and soil moisture levels. It’s fast, easy to use, convenient, and accurate. By using this device, I’ve been able to determine the necessity of appropriate fertilizer applications and pH amending to the soil of a large number of the plants in my garden. Order it here, directly from Amazon, by clicking the #advertisement link. Note that this unit doesn’t test for iron levels in soil. Also note that I really love this little meter!
Bibliography/For Further Reading
Below is this article’s bibliography. Each cited entry is listed in link form, so you can click on any of one them to give it a read. The subject is fascinating, and each one of these articles is excellent.
- Sandra Hines. “It’s in the genes: Research pinpoints how plants know when to flower.” UW News, University of Washington, May 25, 2012, pp. 1-3.
- Andrea Alfano. “How do plants know when to flower?” LabDish Blog, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, May 18, 2018, pp. 1-5.
- Christopher Enroth. “What makes plants bloom at different times of the year?” Good Growing, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, College of Agricultural, Consumer & Environmental Sciences, October 29, 2021, pp. 1-6.
- “What is vernalization and how do plants remember winter?” John Innes Centre Blog, July 15, 2020, pp. 1-2.
Potted Christmas Rose Turning Brown? Nope. Because Now, You Got This!
Alrighty, sports fans, the situation is now well in hand. So, is your potted Christmas Rose turning brown on you? Nope. Not anymore. Because now you know the causes and now you know how to handle the symptoms. You’ve got some great product recs to help you out, and you’ve got more reading material if your interest in the topic takes you further down the road. You’re all set to help your little Helleborus niger out of its extra-crispy funk and get it ready for its new life in the great outdoors. Christmas might be over, but your mighty little Christmas Rose lives on – it’s a good thing you didn’t quit on it!
Cheers, and Happy Gardening!
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A very helpful and surprisingly refreshing article.
Appreciate your advice, as always! 🌹🌹🌹
I’m so happy that you liked it, Roxxy. Thank you very much for reading it, and, of course, for your kind words. You know, these tough little bushes are surprisingly easy to grow and care for – even if you don’t have an outdoor space for them. Now, you know how to care for them when they’re growing in their own pots. So, what are you waiting for? Time for you to get yourself a Christmas Rose! Thanks once again, Roxxy!
You are so right. I bought a Christmas Rose that was so beautiful, but that beauty was fleeting. Almost as soon as I got it home, its leaves started turning brown and shriveling, and it looked pretty much dead. But, I took your advice and trimmed it back. Almost instantly I noticed all kinds of new growth. I ordered some garden lime and am going to repot my hellebore as soon as it arrives. Thanks for the great article.
I’m glad the advice was helpful, Kevin. Christmas Rose and Lenten Rose hellebores are remarkable in that the shorter days and cold temperatures of winter provide the stimuli for new foliage and flower development. Moving them to the toasty warm and bright environment of a retail nursery’s indoor display floor, and ultimately your home, really does give them a shock. Mitigating the effects of that shock (by pruning, deadheading, re-potting, etc.) goes a long way toward getting these awesome little cold weather performers back in shape. Thanks for reading the article and for commenting, Kevin. I really appreciate it. here’s to your recovering Christmas Rose – Cheers!
Very informative and unexpectedly easy rejuvenating process. Thanks, as always for your advice.
Thanks for reading the article, Rick. I’m glad you found it helpful. And thanks so much for your kind conmments – I really appreciate that. Cheers!