HELLEBORES
I find design inspiration in the exquisite shapes and colors of nature - quite often from flowers. My favorite flowers, Hellebores, are the garden’s winter gems.
They are harbingers of the spring when the weather is deadly cold. Hellebores are sometimes called Christmas or Lenten Roses due to the time they bloom, flowering as early as December into Spring. They are not roses but in the buttercup family.
Hellebores are striking to me because they have a stunning color range. Shades of pale warm pink, ivory, raspberry, maroon, chartreuse, minty green, apricot, plum, aubergine, freckled, veined, bi-colored, double-petaled. The blossoms are the most simple delicate buttercup shape but they are shy, hanging their heads down so that you might miss them if you were passing by. They also have lovely green to pewter glossy leaves that retain their color all year long.
I really love gardening - I’m not terribly good at it- but I keep trying to learn. I guess it taps into that desire to have something you can care for, watch grow, love… and show off. This perennial thrives so easily - it’s a tough, low maintenance plant that is happy in shady spots. It’s hard not to love a plant that braves what nature throws at it so boldly. And keeps coming back despite a lackluster green thumb.
A little trivial knowledge~
In the middle ages, Hellebores were also known as the “Oracle Flower”. The belief was that they could predict the weather. People would cut twelve hellebores flowers and place them into a vase. Each flower symbolized one month of the following year. The weather was forecasted by the way the flowers did or did not open. Closed flowers represented bad weather for that month and open flowers represented good weather for that month. Hellebores were also said to be good for breaking bad spells and curses so were often planted next to the front door.
Just when it seems the winter has come and will never end- hellebores, almost magically, arrive to give us a visual lift to the spirits!
