I've just noticed that some of the hellebores are flowering in isolated clumps in among the debris of decaying leaves and seedheads.
I don't remember so many coming into flower at this time of year. It's that odd season thing again. My mother always grew Christmas rose hellebore niger. I don't know why she did because she always found fault with it on two counts...one was it's low growing habit and down-turned head... and the other was that it almost never flowered at Christmas. A misnomer she decided but carried on growing it so that she could remark on the fact the following year...
Time for a photograph or two. You'll have to forgive them as they are all hanging their heads in that delightful, shy hellebore way.
Aloha Janet,
ReplyDeletesuch beautiful photos of these deep colored hellebores...sweet
btw, i love your previous post of winter and that garden tour in New Zealand is fantastic, i would love to do a simple mosaic garden in one corner of my jungle.
merry xmas!
Beautiful blooms. They are H. orientalis then? Very odd indeed, but we welcome these kinds of oddities.
ReplyDeleteI hope you have a restful holiday~
Julie
I have bloom envy ... nothing at all blooming in our garden, but the grass is still lovely and green from all the rain we have been having.
ReplyDeleteI've never lived in a place hellebores could grow--it's either been too cold or too dry--so they're a kind of "magical" flower for me. Yours are certainly delightful, with those beautiful dark leaves and veins. I empathize with your mother, though, in a way, enjoying something because it defies expectation in the exact same way, year after year...
ReplyDeleteI too have plant envy. My hellebores won't be blooming for at least another four months! Great photos as usual. Have a great holiday!!!
ReplyDeleteI think a piece of mosaic would look very at home in your garden, Noel and they are fun to make.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comments, Linda. Everyhting was very wet here until a couple of days ago. It's got much colder and very icy!
Stacy, hellebores brighten up my day but not usually quite this early! If my mother was still with us she might have actually seen her achristmas rose flowering at Christmas. It would have made her day!
karen, i'm sure your hellebores will be will be stunning in a few months. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that ours will still be flowering(!)
Enjoy the Festive Season!
I used to find hellebores too funereal but then was given about two dozen really big plants that quickly established themselves and flowered for ages. I was a convert. Half were pure white and the other half a very dark purple. Left them all behind when I moved house. Sigh. (BTW I would cut all the foliage off when they flowered - but I'm sure you know that).
ReplyDeleteI'm with David there - I didn't used to like hellebores but they have managed to wiggle their way into my heart. They are just so reliable and hardy and flower when there is nothing else to look at. Your pictures are beautiful as usual.
ReplyDeleteTwo converts to hellebores. Wonderful! I do know people who think they are a waste of space.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the reminder, Dave. I do know know that I should cut the foliage off but it doesn't always mean I do it!
They do seem early. Lovely little plants. A plant I haven't managed to put in my garden.
ReplyDeleteLucky you to have these gorgeous flowers before Christmas...I'm envious. Such a lovely colour too. Have a wonderful Christmas!
ReplyDeleteJanet they all look beautiful, I planted my first hellebores a couple of months ago, Frances
ReplyDeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteI really look forward to the day when my Hellebores are nice and large like yours - hopefully some of my latest purchases will surive since I have a poor tack record with them.
I've moved away from H. niger and H. orientalis to the hybrids such as 'Ivory Prince' and 'Pink frost'. Their foliage stays cleaner (and doesn't need cutting), they bloom even more prolifically and they hold their heads UP!
ReplyDeleteKelli, i think they are great plants when they bulk up a bit.
ReplyDeleteFrances i used to grow them in orkney. It surprised me how well they did in spite of the salt and the wind.
Some of our hellebores are three years old and have bulked well, Liz. Orientalis have formed the biggest clumps and self seeded.
Karen I do agree that the new hybrids keep their flowers clean with their more upright habit. Some of mine get mud splashes. At the moment the leaves are getting covered in white marks bird poo as they are under a tree where the birds congregate before going to the bird feeders. I do like the fact that several of my hellebores self seed which the hybrids will not do.
I love hellebores. Mine have been flowering for the last month or so because of the mild autumn. I'd prefer it if they had waited until after Christmas though. I quite like things to be true to their season. My local supermarket is stocking Cornish daffodils for Christmas. It is the earliest they have had them in stock. Much as I love daffodils I don't want them at Christmas. In January yes but not now.
ReplyDeleteJanet, your hellebores look absolutely gorgeous! It is such a delight to have these lovely plants flowering at this time of the year. I love the bronze foliage as shown in the last pic. Great photos, by the way!
ReplyDeleteChristina
Beautiful photos, we have just one flowering at the moment and lots of buds that will soon open up. Have to disagree with hybrids not setting seed though, if I don't deadhead there are seedlings everywhere !
ReplyDeleteWellywoman i thought my hellebores were early but not as early as yours! The earliest daffs up here are flown in from the channel island after the year.
ReplyDeleteI'm sort of pleased that the hellebores are flowering, Christina. I hope they keep flowering.
Pauline, i have some that seed and several that don't. I should hve chaecked what they are first. Thanks for your comment.
Hi Janet - You've reminded me to check my hellebores. They are under snow at the moment, but that does not mean there are no emerging blooms. I have to say they are irritating plants in summer - but worth it for their early spring displays
ReplyDeleteBeautiful. Hellebores are one of those plants I promise myself to try, but I never seem to. Thanks for sharing your photos.
ReplyDeleteThose a very beautiful. I just popped outside to check mine - but not a hint of a flower. My seasons are being odd in other ways, but I do look forward to the hellebores joining in...
ReplyDeleteA reason to look forward to winter ... Hellebores :)
ReplyDeleteThank you for the comments. We always grow some and when they flower i'm so glad we do.
ReplyDeleteI love these little flowers; so dignified.
ReplyDeleteHello Janet! Beautiful photographs, a spring sampler. Yes please!
ReplyDelete