Hellebores fill the gap

I have several hellebores in the garden and they are great at filling that gap between winter and spring when nothing much is growing. I'd urge everyone to have a few. There are over 20 different hellebores, and most have lovely bell-shaped flowers.

The most famous hellebore is the Christmas rose, a lovely white and delicate nodding open flower that's so welcome over December/January.

Some are evergreen so give year round structure to garden. They are all hardy and survive the Scottish winter just fine.

European natives they have a colourful history surrounded in fokelore with connections to witchcraft for summoning demons, as a medicine in Greek mythology and by Hippocrates and a hellebore overdose is said to have killed Alexander the Great. They are poisonous so don't try eating them!

These photos show the hellebores in my garden this weekend.