PARTY TIME FOR HELLEBORES

It is always such a joy and relief when the Hellebores  show their full blossoms (really the colorful calyxes surrounding the true blossom in the center) after the cold and snow of February has passed.  

Guests to the Gardens in Woodlands are greeted with a spattering of Hellebores as they come down the gravel path  from the driveway into the front courtyard. 

After 20 years 12 hellebores that I originally planted in my Woodland Wall Garden have multiplied exponentially creating a wonderland of ground cover. 

As you can see  by the mermaid dancing in the Hellebores she is also having a joyous experience. 

I love walking along the woodland garden  paths and seeing repetition of blossom in clumps of color ( lavenders,  pinks,  whites and deep burgundies) that jump along and across the path.  These are Hellebores orientalis, Hellebores x hybrida and Hellebores foeditus.

I planted 'Kingston Cardinal' a double Hellebore cultivar to spice up the common species along the path. 

Stopping along the way one comes across a combination of Helleborus orientalis, last year's three foot stems of  Hydrangea  Annabelle topped with it's dried umbles of flowers and Edgeworthia chrysantha blooms towering over them. 

Another beautiful vision is the expanding spikes of  Corylopsis spicata blossoms framing the distant haze of blooms on Cornus Mas at the southern edge of the woodland.  

I have placed sculptures along  the path to  provide interest and directional changes where a side path might break off.  This concrete sculpture of a Renaissance farmer trains his gaze down the path to the house. 

There is a Daphne odora 'Aureomarginata' blooming in the Fern Walk right now and it is supported by hardy Cyclamen coum , an Autumn Fern and some speciality Hellebores  purchased one by one over the years from Plant Delights Nursery. 

These cultivars greatly enhance the ever expanding seedling Hellebore collection making the garden experience that much more rich and diverse. 

At the far end of the Fern Walk the garden is showing a tidy patch of Trillium cuneatum. I have to carefully place a temporary cage of stems over the clump to fool the deer which would eat it down to the ground if found. 

Can you see Marcus, my wonderful German Shepherd, waiting at the other end of the path? He wants  to continue our walk through the  gardens in the woodland so I'll take my leave now. 

I hope you are enjoying spring as much as we are here in Apex, NC.