Winter Roses

Late winter and early spring bring hellebores and a trek to Post Office Farm Nursery near Woodend becomes my annual pilgrimage.

Also called winter roses, Helleborus are evergreen perennials which flower from early winter (Corsican) or August and they are still colourful now; Peter Leigh has bred wonderful strains which are world class. Some species have particularly handsome leaves and Helleborus foetidus can take fairly deep shade.

I love the single flowers but my camera only seems drawn to the new, neat doubles…and now I have one I can truly call double black; superb.

The nursery is open Sundays until the end of September.