WHEN I WAS AN EVEN LESS EXPERIENCED GARDENER, I believed the catalogs and magazines that assured me the Christmas rose, Helleborus niger, would brighten my Christmas garden. Over time, I learned that in New England it blooms somewhere near Easter (depending on the moon and the vernal equinox, which combine to make Easter the most movable of holidays). But this year a local market has outwitted Mother Nature by stocking potted plants they say we can enjoy now and move outdoors "when the ground thaws."
I have a wonderful assortment of hellebores, including some treasures from Heronswood, and I'd love to have this beauty join them. Wish me luck. Gardening is always an adventure.
So this is my experiment for the season -- along with the snippet from an awesome four-foot coleus I got from Cecile, a wonderful local gardener. When I admired its dramatic show in a large pot near her front door, she promptly reached over and snapped off a generous shoot for me.
But you know, even if I don't manage to keep the hellebore viable in the dry heat of the house in winter, it's a delight to have it at Christmastime.
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