Hellebores - winter jewels in the garden

Helleborus argutifolius - Corsican hellebore

Hellebores are brightening up the garden right now, both in containers and under the Acer, where they mingle with the snowdrops and aconites to create a miniature woodland glade in my town garden.

Helleborus 'HGC Mme Lemonnier'

I love the rich jewel colours of H. 'HGC Mme Lemonnier', above (that gorgeous crushed-velvet red), and the dark midnight purple of H. x hybridus 'Naomi', below. But I always come back to the ice green of H. argutifolius and H. niger 'Christmas Carol ', with its pure, pure white flowers, to plant over and over again, in pots, to lighten up the patio and pathways.

Helleborus x hybridus 'Naomi'

Helleborus 'HGC Cinnamon Snow'

Helleborus niger 'Christmas Carol (Christmas Rose)

 

Whiter than white

A snowy visit to the allotment today. The fresh snowfall has flattened out the landscape and deadened any sounds, so that it seems perfectly quiet and still, just the crump-crump of my wellies stumping down the path.

 

Apart from making sure everything was all right under its blanket of snow, I wanted to dig up some leeks for supper. Despite a good 8cm of snow, the ground wasn't frozen, so the leeks were easy to lift. Disturbing the soil alerted my winter robin, who earned himself a breakfast of two fat worms while I was digging.

The brassica cage here shows what happens if you don't take the net down before the snow falls - the weight of snow on the net will have knocked the tops of most of the  plants. Last year this happened with my purple sprouting broccoli long while they were still maturing. This year, the purple sprouting broccoli cropped in September and we've been eating it ever since, so it's coming to the end of its productive life anyway.