With nothing else braving the still harsh weather, the newly emerging leaves and flowers of the hellebores seem to be too tender for what is going on around them. But, as this one shows, they are up with new leaves and flowers, ready to start a new garden year. Sure, the crocus are already blooming in the grass, which I reported earlier, and the witch hazels are putting out color and fragrance in abundance. But it really is the first herbaceous perennial that signifies the beginning of a new year. With the old name of Lenten Rose, these hellebores have come up slightly before Ash Wednesday this year. But since this year has Lent starting about as late as it can, if this were any other year, they would have begun blooming a few weeks into that church season. This one does have that soft, rose color, which I like. It even has the tapered shape of a rose bud before the petals fully open up. I have a number of white varieties, and just bought a new one that has a bright, clean yellow flowers, "Winter's Bliss" which has been showing off on the dining table in the condominium in DC. 
But the ones that most thrill me are the dark, deep purple or maroon reds, which seem much harder to find. This is one of a group of unnamed seedlings I bought from a hellebore specialist a few years ago. I took the chance on finding some particularly interesting colors and styles, and this one has certainly met that hope. This along with most of my hellebores are in the North flower bed, a small space with the house on two sides, a fence on the third, and our parking pad on the fourth. I have begun moving some hellebores into sections of the labyrinth beds, as shaded areas grow slowly under various trees and shrubs. They fit in well in the back of sections that are visible when all else has died down. If I get some other interesting blooms, you will be the first to see the pictures!
But the ones that most thrill me are the dark, deep purple or maroon reds, which seem much harder to find. This is one of a group of unnamed seedlings I bought from a hellebore specialist a few years ago. I took the chance on finding some particularly interesting colors and styles, and this one has certainly met that hope. This along with most of my hellebores are in the North flower bed, a small space with the house on two sides, a fence on the third, and our parking pad on the fourth. I have begun moving some hellebores into sections of the labyrinth beds, as shaded areas grow slowly under various trees and shrubs. They fit in well in the back of sections that are visible when all else has died down. If I get some other interesting blooms, you will be the first to see the pictures!.
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