Wednesday, February 03, 2010

Hellebores in February


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This is what my hellebores (Helleborus orientalis) look like at the beginning of February.

I probably wouldn’t have paid any attention to them but Susan from Maryland zone 7b asked fellow members of Doug Green’s Online Gardening Club, Perennial Flower Group, to share their experiences with hellebores.

The conversation was joined by Yvonne in Illinois (zone 5), Linda in Southwest Kentucky (zone 6) and Janet. Doug Green (who is always hovering in the background to keep everyone out of trouble) posted a link to his “gardening tips for perennials”.




The gardening club is a fun way to connect with fellow gardeners. Their personal experiences add so much to my gardening practices.

Even though my hellebores have taken a beating this winter the purple buds are beginning to form. By March and into April, I will enjoy their early blooms. (See post from April 2009.)
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(The groundhog has spoken – 6 more weeks of winter.)
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6 comments:

Doug Green DougGreensGarden.com said...

Doug "keeps everyone out of trouble" - not likely with this group! :-) Doug just sits back and learns a ton of useful stuff from all you guys (and then tries to keep himself out of trouble)

Marie said...

Doug (our humble expert),
Thabks for the comment. I guess it's obvious that I love the garden club. Every gardener should join. It's easy to use and loaded with tons of information.

Kathy said...

Marie... I need to check my hellebores. I had help when I was out sick and they cleaned out my garden. Hope these are still there!!

donna said...

We had some more snow so everything outside is looking fresh and clean again, but it also means that it will be a while before I can see what's going on under the snow.

I've never grown hellebores, but I sure read a lot about them and need to consider having some.

donna

Marie said...

Kathy,
I hope the hellebores are OK. Many years ago my husband, the non-gardener, helped me by weeding all my newly planted seedlings out of the garden. He never weeded again.

Marie said...

Donna,
Hellebores take very litle maintenance after thet're established - a plus for me. It takes a few minutes to cut the old leaves in spring and that's about it.

More snow forecast for tomorrow here.