Frosted hellebore buds

Asleep in the Shade

Posted on by Ann Mackay

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During the run of frosty mornings this week, I spent a lot of time photographing plants in the garden. While busy in amongst the icy foliage, I looked down by my feet and noticed that even the hellebores appeared to be frozen. I haven’t seen them frosted before because the areas they’re in are usually too well-protected by nearby shrubs. To my fanciful imagination, they look as if they’re all tucked up, sleeping soundly and waiting for warmer weather.

These hellebores manage to be in flower very early in the year and their presence reminds me that winter won’t be here forever…spring will come! As it happens, the flowers appear to have emerged slightly earlier than they have in previous years. (Up until now I’ve seen them in flower here at the start of February. Perhaps the earlier flowering is because the plants are now becoming more established.) It was still less than halfway through January when I photographed them, so there is likely to be more cold weather for them to face.

Freezing temperatures don’t seem to bother these tough little plants, despite their glamorous appearance. I’m grateful for their resilience. It would be wonderful if all the rest of the plants in the garden could be relied upon to come through winter so well. (But I can only blame myself for the less hardy plants chosen for here. And what would life be without the excitement of a little bit of risk…?)

Frosted hellebore flowers
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Published by Ann Mackay

Photographer, mixed-media art adventurer and completely daft about plants.......

21 thoughts on “Asleep in the Shade”

  1. Lovely! ‘Asleep in the Shade’ has a certain ring to it and then the penny dropped.. “asleep in the hay” from the carol, ‘Away in a manger’. Did you have that connection in mind? “all tucked up, sleeping soundly” only deepened that connection for me!!

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    1. They’re a huge favourite with me, but especially when everything else is a bit grey and dull. Somehow they look much too exotic to be winter flowers. There should be more hellebore pics soon… 🙂

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      1. Yes, they really don’t look like they should be that tough, do they? We had a beautiful selection in our last garden in this area so I’m hoping to build another (aren’t they expensive, though?), they used to self-seed all oer the place and I loved the way the bees had been in mixing the colours so we ended up with some very pretty combinations !

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      2. I know what you mean about the price! They can be very expensive, but I’ve been lucky enough to find a couple at more reasonable prices in small nurseries near here. (So much better than the big garden centres that tend to charge an arm and a leg for everything!) Hope you find some more affordable ones.

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  5. These beauties look so delicate — but clearly they’re tough little plants. The red veins in the sepals and what I think are some of the leaves remind me of Swiss chard. Is the red usually that bright, or has the cold emphasized it? You really captured them with just the right amount of frost: not too much, not too little. I’m so glad you finally got some to play with!

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    1. I think being pretty much frozen has made their colours look more intense and they may also be stronger because the buds have only recently opened. (Flower colours can change as they age.) Some of the hellebore have very deep and strong colours anyway – you’ll see more of those later. And if the plants interbreed, we could get some interesting variations! The frost was very cooperative! 🙂

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    1. So far they look just fine. The frost has gone for now and the flowers are lurking in amongst the leaves, most still tight in bud. Soon their stems will lengthen and they’ll pop their flowers into view. I’m looking forward to that bit!

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  8. I love to see them in the frost. This one does seem to be sleeping, but I’ve seen them looking positively miserable, which always makes me smile, knowing they’ll perk up with the weather.

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