Friday 1 March 2013

March - Hellebores in our garden

According to a saying that dates back to the 17th century if March "comes in like a lion, it goes out like a lamb". March is a transitional month sitting between the end of the winter and the beginning of the Spring and summer. However, today, in our part of the world March has arrived like a lamb.

66 comments:

  1. Stunning Hellebores, Rosemary! We still have a lot of snow, but the sun is shining and it feels like spring. Happy weekend, Rosemary!

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    1. Even if the snow is still with you, your flowers are there waiting under the white blanket. As long as the sun shines the spirits are lifted. Happy weekend to you to.

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  2. Now it's more fair than these photos succeed the other ones!!! Have a great week end !

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    1. Yes, you are right, these show that renewal and the spring are arriving.

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  3. We have a similar saying like yours , but we hope that the spring is more closed near by!
    Happy Month !

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    1. It is lovely to be venturing nearer to the time when the gardens and flowers start to bloom again. I hope March is a happy month for you too.

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  4. Hello Rosemary, Your hellebores are quite dramatic flowers. In America there is a wild plant that grows in the the woods called green hellebore among other names, which is quite toxic.

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    1. Hello Jim - we also have wild helleborine growing in the wild. I do not know whether or not they are toxic, but if yours are then ours probably are too. There are 7 different helleborines growing wild here, some grow in the woods others in marsh land. Did you know that they are a member of the orchid family? There are lots of myths surrounding the growing of hellebores, some say they must have shade, others that they are difficult to grow. Ours have just been placed in gaps where we thought that they would look good, and they have all flourished.

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  5. Your flower photographs are always lovely, Rosemary. If I were a gardener like you (I'm not) I'd be tempted to paint large Georgia O'Keefe-style images!

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    1. Dear Mark - I love Georgia O'Keefe's work so if you can imagine some of my flower photos being good enough to emulate her images, that is indeed very flattering, thank you.

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  6. Gorgeous blooms! In my neck of the woods, today's going to be sunny and a little mild, but for several days starting tomorrow we are in for more snow. So, I hope that means our March is coming in like a lion. I'm not too fond of early spring snow storms. Have a great weekend.

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    1. My brother lives in Toronto and now I realise why he goes off to Florida at this time of the year - he is escaping the snow I believe. I am sure that you know that the escaping Canadians are known as snowbirds.

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  7. Wow how wonderful photographed with the sun on there flowers. Wonderful to see. We going to have higher temperatures overhere next week. Today it's cold and grey but I could not stop myself going outside into the garden to prune a part of my roses and clean up a little bit. Send some sunshine over to Holland Rosemary.
    Have a wonderful weekend.

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    1. My garden is full of debris - dead leaves, sticks etc, and a good clean up is required. Hope that you do get lots of warmth and sunshine next week - it lifts your spirits.

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  8. Hellebores are lovely. I have one pale coloured one growing in my tiny Hebden Bridge garden.....and interestingly saw some in a garden centre in Carcassonne yesterday. I love to see them, indicating that spring really is just around the corner... lovely photos Rosemary. Jx

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    1. There are so many lovely Hellebores around - I used to have a primrose yellow one which I appear to have lost. Some of them also have lovely freckles on the petals. Hope that you are enjoying your break in France.

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  9. Your images of hellebores are beautiful I was experimenting taking photos of them last weekend, but they didn't come out as well as I hoped! Wishing you a good weekend.
    Sarah x

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    1. Dear Sarah - sometimes they are a bit award when their heads are hanging down. I just bent over, put the camera underneath the the flower, and hoped for the best.

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  10. Beautiful photos of your Hellebores, they look stunning.
    Patricia x

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    1. They are a lovely bit of colour in the garden, and thank you.

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  11. Your Hellebores look magnificent Rosemary! You have so many different varieties in your garden.

    March has come in like a lamb in Holland as well. Temperatures are rising to 8 degrees Celsius this weekend and up to 15 degrees next week. Hurray! Perfect gardening weather!

    Have a good weekend,

    Madelief x

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    1. Dear Madelief - I haven't looked at our long term weather forecast but hope that the warmth will be here too. 15 degrees would be lovely.
      Take care and enjoy the sun when it arrives.

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  12. Lovely photos, and lovely flowers! Hellebores are not common in Greece!!!
    I wish you a nice month of March and a nice weekend !

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    1. Hello Marie-Anne - I think that Greece may possibly be unsuited to Hellebores, they do not like it too hot. They are lovely to have in the garden at this time of the year reminding us of the good things still to come.

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  13. These flowers look very big. The first picture has my preference.

    Greetings,
    Filip

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  14. Very pretty, Rosemary! I planted some last year, but no flowers yet!

    Nice photos, by the way!

    CIAO!

    ANNA
    xx

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    1. They are a bit temperamental when first planted Anna and can take two to three years before they flower. As long as they are alive they will eventually give you flowers.
      Ciao♥

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  15. Absolutely beautiful photos. I have a few flowers in our new garden and hope to get out and photograph them soon. I am eagerly waiting to see what the garden will look like this year since it will be our first year here in England. Sping is just around the corner, I can feel it.

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    1. Dear Gina - a new but established garden is always exciting the first year discovering what you have. Hope you find some lovely surprises. Spring is coming, I can feel it too. Quite a few of my blogging friends in Canada have just received another load of snow!!!

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  16. A very cold lamb (4C) here, Rosemary. Let's hope it doesn't go out like a lion. Your hellebores are gorgeous.

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    1. I shall be away towards the end of the month Perpetua, but expect to return to beautiful weather!!!

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  17. Such beautiful flowers! It is still cold and snowy here- no flowers in sight.. I was happy to get your comment on my post. I have been away from my computer for a while and have missed everyone.

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    1. You were missed but happy to see you back.

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  18. Very pretty flowers Rosemary. Still lots of snow over here across the pond. But I'm feeling Spring in my attitude now.

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    1. Spring will be with you soon Pamela, and then your flowers will emerge too.

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  19. Are these all in your garden??? That's wonderful! I LOVE Hellebores but have none in the garden.
    Have a beautiful weekend,
    Marian

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    1. Yes, I have updated the title as I forgot to mention it - they can take a year or two to flower but once establish they are very easy. Worth giving them a try.

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  20. What fabulous photographs Rosemary. My Hellebore are still under a foot of snow. Have you looked under your Hellebores to find little seedlings? I have transplanted many of them while they were small. After 3 years they have also started to bloom. ox, Gina

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    1. Glad you liked the photos Gina - yours is the first comment under my new system. I have removed verification, moderation, and entered registered users only. The spam I have been receiving has now gone into blogger filter. I am hoping that it works, people get fed up with trying to read the verification, but I don't like the spam, some of which has a 'stalker' quality to it. I will see how it goes.
      I haven't transplanted any of the seedlings, but tend to leave them where they are. They sit under hedges and trees, and seem to be very happy there. I will have a look this year, and see if I can dig any of them out.

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  21. Gorgeous photos of your hellebores, Rosemary!

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  22. Just beautiful ! I like the perfume of hellebores :) The pink one is gorgeous ... Wishing you a lovely sunday, Rosemary !

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    1. I have never actually smelt them - I will give it a try tomorrow - thanks for your visit

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  23. Gorgeous flowers Rosemary!
    It will be a while before we see them around here, although March came (almost) like a lamb ;)
    at the moment I keep thinking of that Camus quote "it's a spring they sell in the markets" (or something in that meaning)

    Enjoy a lovely Saturday evening : )

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    1. Dear Demie - brilliant quote:-
      “Spring declares itself solely in the quality of the air or the little baskets of flowers that street-sellers bring in from the suburbs; this is a spring that is sold in the market-place.”
      I cheated I looked it up.

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  24. Hello Rosemary,
    very,very beautiful pictures!!!
    A big hug

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    1. So pleased that you enjoyed seeing them Antonio - take care.

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  25. Exquisite photos Rosemary. I love the deep rich colours.

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    1. They are lovely to see at this time of year Betty.

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  26. Hello dear Rosemary,
    What a collection of beautiful spring flowers..well, like you say' inbetween'.
    It seems you are having better weather than what we are.
    Its become cold, its raining and very windy.
    last week a few days of sun and I thought ..now I can garden. Went to the garden centre friday.. and its raining now. plants still to plant.
    I see that you have taken the word verification off. that is exactly what i did.. people have to be a friend.. otherwise they cant comment and all the other stuff is put into blogger bin so to say.
    Its much better.
    Great photos.
    I am in bed with a cold..
    happy weekend.
    val

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  27. Dear Val - I am so sorry to learn that you are not feeling very good - get better soon. Hope you do not have the dreaded flu? H and I usually have an anti flu jab in September which seems to work.
    The weather here is pretty good, surprisingly, especially when I see blogs from other parts of the world where they keep getting more snow falls.
    Yes, I have taken off the verification, and moderation, and notified bloggers spam filter. I have also switched on Registered User only to see if that keeps the spam at bay - I read that tip on another blog, so fingers crossed.
    Hope you are soon over your cold Val - take care.

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  28. Dear Rosemary, The reason I transplant some of my Hellebore is that hundreds of little seedlings appear sometimes in the Spring. I think that one of the group of seed heads spills all of its seeds at one time.
    A question about spam. Do you have to direct spam to Blogger Filter and if so, how do you go about doing so. ox, Gina

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    1. Dear Gina - I understand that switching on 'Registered Users Only' prevents spam, and the blogger spam filter comes into operation once you receive a spam comment and then send it into blogger spam - blogger filter remembers it even if it then appears in a different format.
      If you receive spam that has irrelevant, repetitive or nonsensical text along with a number of links, usually they all come from the same site. So once you have notified blogger filter they are all stopped.
      Fingers crossed it is working - when I switched off the verification a couple of weeks ago I received about 3-4 spam messages a day - so will see how I go.
      Thanks for the information about the Hellebores I will keep watching.

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  29. Your Hellebores look powerful and luminous under the lamb-like mild weather. Hellebores is called “Christmas Rose” in my country though it usually blooms from late January to early May. They add some colors to my dormant garden at this time. You made me want to take pictures of mine, rosemary.

    Yoko

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    1. Hello Yoko - we also call them Christmas Rose or Lenten Rose, I suppose it is because they are the first colourful flowers following on from Christmas. Hope everything is progressing well with your daughter.

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  30. To są nie tylko piękne wiosenne kwiaty, ale mają też śliczne i ciekawe zdjęcia. Pozdrawiam serdecznie.
    These are not only beautiful spring flowers, but they also have a beautiful and interesting photos. Yours sincerely.

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    1. Dziękuję - Cieszę się, że ci się podobało zdjęcia

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  31. Such beautiful photos!! I live in Seattle where spring takes a while to come on. This year we've had a mild winter and I am so excited to get to the nursery and buy flowers however I'm concerned if I do.. we will have more freezing temperatures. Such a lovely blog you have!

    xxleslie

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    1. Hello Leslie and welcome - thank you for your very kind comment. Hopefully if you do buy some plants you will have somewhere safe to protect them or be able to cover them with fleece over night. At the moment I would not actually put new plants in the ground and any I buy will be placed in the conservatory - another few weeks and it will be safe here from frost.

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  32. Your hellebores are beee-utiful, Rosemary! Aren't they marvelous plants? I only discovered them about five years ago and began collecting them (on sale as they are expensive here). Thankfully, they love our shady property and are already in full bloom this year. I love the dark blue and purple ones but they don't do as well as the pink varieties. We went to a hellebore grower a few years ago and got a tour of the greenhouses – amazing!

    Have a lovely week ahead.

    G

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    1. I agree Georgianna - they are well worth having in the garden, but as you mention the conditions do need to be right for them. They are very expensive here too, but I was fortunate as I got several of mine reasonably priced. We have open garden days here which I often visit, one of which was a Hellebore specialist, and he had lots of seedlings for sale at good prices.

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  33. Hellebores are stunning flowers and so are your photos. I have several and want to get more. Do you find they reseed and you have many babies to dig and plant elsewhere? I have got my start from generous friends in this manner. There's an orange/yellow one I've seen in pictures and have looked for but unable to find.

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    1. Yes, they do reseed, but I have been remiss and just left them where they are. I used to have a deep yellow one which sadly I have lost, the very yellow ones are difficult to find. Mine came from a garden where the owner specialised in Hellebores. He would open his garden for a weekend at Hellebore time and everyone would visit to buy his seedlings - that is where I found my yellow one. Sadly he has stopped opening the garden now.

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  34. I am loving the many shades of your Hellebores, so close up I could touch them!

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    1. We are at that stage when the garden and countryside are about to go into overdrive. At first you can see each little flower that opens, but then suddenly there is an explosion and you cannot keep up with it anymore.

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