Last Friday
we were treated with snow. What a lovely present! Because we live close to the
sea it is relatively warm in winter. So snow is rare in the province of
Zeeland. I have to go out to shoot some pictures immediately.
I can hear
the snow squeaking under my feet. Packing snow! I have to be quick; actually it
already thaws. The
Helleborus in my garden have white snow-caps. They are photo genetic. The white
Helleborus, which lights up the garden on gloomy days, looks faded in the snow
now. However, the dark ones are beautiful. In these snowy conditions they steal
the show. So every colour has its moment!
Whilst I
photograph the Helleborus, I think how smart nature is. The flowers hang upside
down. This way the pollen is protected against rain and snow. The disadvantage
is you cannot see the inside of the flowers properly. That is why growers have
tried to breed Hellebores with flowers growing upwards. Of course they succeeded,
but a Helleborus will not do this on its own. It is bad for the seeds!
I myself once
tried to cross a white and a black Helleborus. The offspring is white with
black dots. The flowers hang upside down of course.
After all,
it needs a lot to manipulate nature!
Enjoy your week.
Hetty
Helleborus Corsicus. Always with green flowers.
The white ones are not looking at their best.
But the dark ones....
....they steel the show!
Pink ones...
.......also beautiful.
Next day, the sun is shining.
The white ones look fresh and bright.
The same Hellebore of the first picture.
Collection of Hellebore flowers.
New followers a warm welcome.
Hellebore are so resilient in the winter - we have a number of them and love them. They spread out and make a lovely evergreen ground cover.
ReplyDeleteThanks for linking up at https://image-in-ing.blogspot.com/2018/02/more-from-nasher-art-museum.html
Dear Hetty,
ReplyDeletewe too had snow last week. Your hellebores look lovely! I also like the dark ones a lot. Last year I planted many hellebores and they are blooming right now. Today I was in my garden and found some beautiful dark blooms almost fully covered by leaves (leaves from trees). I put the leaves away and was surprised by a very pretty helleborus with dark blooms- similar to yours. I planted the hellebores plants last year and I can´t remember anymore where I planted which variety, so I have totally forgotten about this dark beauty and being covered by all these leaves I didn´t realise there was a plant until today. Great to hear that you also bred your own hellebores. I too have many seedlings next to the mature plants-so I am excited how they will turn out. Guess it will take some years for the little ones to bloom. I was wondering why the flowers always hung upside down, now thanks to your explanation I know. How clever plants are! Have a lovely week!
Best wishes,
Lisa