We had a beautifully sunny morning, not much wind, so I was able to nip into the garden to see what had opened up in the warmth of the sun. Lots of snowdrops as I thought but also the hellebores had decided that it was warm enough for them to start putting on a show. I decided the snowdrops could wait until next time, so here are the few hellebores that are open at the moment.
This one is actually in the front garden and was the first one to open up. Tonight, there is going to be another storm so I hope it stands up to the weather.
Another in the front garden which , along with the snowdrops here, lift my spirits when going in and out.
An anemone centred one, still in the front.
A lovely double in the rhododendron bed.
A single yellow hellebore in the back garden.
A really beautiful double pink, still in the back garden.
A single pink on the slope down to the ditch, that’s how I was able to get underneath it – lovely blue sky and the sun was quite warm.
A single white hellebore at the end of the woodland.
Now round near the back door is a lovely Eric Smithii hellebore, with lots of buds to come.There are lots more hellebores to open, they will be photographed when their time comes.
The promised rain has arrived and the wind will get much stronger tonight so it sounds as if we will have to check our trees again in the morning and make sure that they are all still standing.
When I see these photos like these of hellebores with most of their leaves trimmed I can see why people do it, Pauline. They are all so very beautiful aren’t they, and as always it is hard to have a favourite as single or double, spotted or unspotted, they all have something to recommend them don’t they? Hope they stand up to the impending battering…
The flowers Cathy, are much easier to see without the old leaves, the plants soon put out new leaves and it doesn’t seem to bother them. I agree, its impossible to have favourites, they’re all so beautiful. Just listening to the wind outside is worrying, just as well it’s now dark and I can’t see what is happening to everything!
You have some gorgeous Hellebores, Pauline. They are such a delight. I love that maroon-spotted double. They seem very resilient and stand up quite well to awful weather, so let’s hope they will be all right. Do they seed around in your garden?
Yes, Chloris, they are lovely and do brighten up a dull grey garden. I know frost and snow don’t worry them, but some are rather tall, I just hope they don’t snap in the wind that I can hear howling outside! I don’t let them seed these days, because in the past, the seedlings never seem to be as good as their parents, plus I would rather the parents put their energy into making good plants rather than forming seed.
Beautiful Pauline, I don’t think I’ll ever have enough hellebores. The wind is howling outside, I’d prefer it during daytime so I can see what’s going on! Stay safe.
I keep telling myself Jessica, that I have enough, but usually can’t resist when I visit the garden centre! Thanks for your concern, I’m listening to the wind howling at the moment, stay warm and safe Jessica and batten down the hatches!
Hellebores are such sweet and welcome friends this time of year! We’re having a freeze so ours are all lying on the ground at present but I know they’ll stand up again once the weather warms!
They are so welcome Peter at this time of year, usually by now we would have had quite a bit of frost, instead this year we have had it very mild but with 1 storm after another for about 2 months now. I’m just hoping the stalks don’t get snapped off with all the wind.
Oh, so beautiful, you do have a great collection Pauline.
Thanks Janet, they are so tempting when visiting the nurseries!
Wow, what great hellebores you have! Thanks for sharing them with us. Blessings, Natalie 🙂
Thanks Natalie, they certainly bring a lot of colour to the winter garden.
You have some fabulous hellebores! Mine are very late this year, thanks to our bitter winter. I really want to add some of the outstanding new cultivars to my own collection of bastardized hellebores.
You certainly have had a bad winter this time Deb, we have been watching it on our news. The trouble is that the weather then comes over the Atlantic to us, picking up water on the way and dumps it on us! There are so many floods here, with houses and businesses under water. Farm animals have had to be rescued and taken to higher ground. We thank goodness are on the side of a hill and the water just goes rushing by. The ground is so saturated we just can’t walk on most of it and long for a spell of dry weather.
Fortunately the snowdrops and hellebores don’t seem to mind!
I love the pale pink ones and every year tell myself I must get one, but they always seem to be elusive when I start looking! I’ll have to put it on my list for mail order plants. My dark red ones (not flowering yet) are tricky to photograph as they tend to look downwards, but your photo of the two flowers with a blue sky behind them is so lovely!
Cathy, I had to stand in the ditch to take the photo with the blue sky! I think all mine hang their heads down except the Eric Smithii varieties, sometimes it is just a question of sticking the camera underneath and hoping for the best.
hope all your trees survive, the hellebores are divine, Pauline.
Thank you Catmint, all the trees survived, just a couple of branches came down and no damage to the snowdrops and hellebores underneath!
Oh such beauties Pauline. They must bring a huge smile to your face when you see them. I hope that today’s battering from this dreadful weather has not done any damage to your garden.
Anna, plants are amazingly resilient, the hellebores and snowdrops are fine, they haven’t minded the battering from the wind, thank goodness. Just a couple of branches down in the woodland but they were careful not to squash the snowdrops!
What a wonderful collection you have Pauline – like you I remove all the old foliage, I find I can appreciate the flowers more. Mind you H. eric smithii in my garden has all it’s flowers facing the fence and I can’t get my backside down to get a decent picture. I’ll enjoy yours for now.
The flowers show up much better don’t they Angie, without their old foliage to spoil the picture. How unfortunate that H.Eric Smithii has turned his back on you, he won’t get his photo on your blog that way!
They are all a joy to behold, Pauline, and it certainly pays to cut the old foliage off! Do you know the name of the one in the first picture? Best wishes
I agree Annette,they look much better without their old foliage and it’s lovely to have some colour in the garden once more. I’m afraid I don’t have the name of the first one that I showed, here hellebores are just sold as Lenten Hellebore Hybrids. At one time they were sold by name but then so many seedlings were sold under the parent name, and didn’t look the same, so that system was stopped. There are just a few now sold by name, I just chose the ones I like best when ordering or visiting a nursery.
What a collection of hellebores! They look great. I particularly like the picture with the blue sky background, it really looks springlike even though your weather hasn’t gone there completely yet.
The weather Frank, isn’t behaving itself at all, we have had almost non stop rain for over 2 months now, half the country is flooded, thank goodness we live on the side of a hill! The blue sky was very unusual and we made the most of it, tonight though it’s going to be freezing and maybe tomorrow, snow!! The hellebores bring a very welcome splash of colour to the garden in winter, I love them!
I have lots of hellebores here but your lovely photos make me think about planting more! I love the variety of colours. Hope the storms aren’t too bad where you are.
The storms Wendy, proved to be not as bad as was forecast, just a couple of branches down in the woodland and lots of twigs everywhere. I keep thinking that no-one can have too many hellebores, I’ve just bought two more, they are so wonderful at this time of year for bringing colour to the garden.
Very beautiful – ALL of them; I could pick a favourite, they are all lovely. I hope they stood up to the wind, it has been terribly windy here too, blowing chair over on the terrace, I was worried about the onions and garlic as they were being whipped around horribly.
They did Christina, they stood up to the weather very well, nothing got snapped off thank goodness. The weather is worse today, more storms and gales, when will it all end!
Gorgeous and cause for jealousy as I have no snowdrops or hellebores in bloom. They are all under two feet of snow and given our major ice storms I am glad. However, this is so unusual.
Carolyn,your hellebores and snowdrops will be nice and cosy under their duvet of snow. All your snow storms come across the Atlantic after they have dumped their snow on you, picking up water on the way and now the west half of England and the Thames valley are under water. Some people have been flooded for such a long time, I feel for them, it must be absolutely dreadful to be flooded for so long.