Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Winter Blooms

I read a few posts before my travel south and became jealous as those on the West Coast posted flowers!  Flowers in February?  That was just cruel!  So I went outside to see if I could find anything of a hopeful nature in my yard and low and behold the Lenten Rose (Hellebores) were budding!  I think they originally came from Greece, or Turkey or Russia...but don't hold me to that.  They should be called "patience flower" because if you plant by seed or seedling it will take years before it reaches a stage where it blossoms.  It is much better to buy this plant as a mature specimen from the nursery.  There are a number of folktales surrounding this plant such as it bloomed in the winter around Christmas from the tears of a young girl who had no gifts for the baby Jesus.  There are also some not so nice tales where it was used as a poison.  It blooms during the lenten season so that is the reason for one of its many common names.  There are 15 species and quite a variety of flower colors and shapes.  Maybe I will post a blossom blooming when I return.



5 comments:

  1. pretty cool on the folktales...the pacific northwest is having unseasonable warm times right now..a friend in oregon posted some flowers too..ha...mine are frozen

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  2. Nice plump buds on that plant. It's unusually warm here and bulbs are pushing up. Don't know what to think? If they keep it up and it freezes we'll lose a lot of them. Weird weather abounds.

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  3. Have not heard of them, will they poke their head through the snow?

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  4. Hellebores are blooming in abundance here in Seattle now. Tom just finished mowing the lawn. It's still mild, about 50, with the sun peeking through clouds. Weird weather, with extremes on both coasts.

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  5. It grows all through the winter here. Its colours are so strange and dusky and unusual. For colour I find camellias are best but the hellebore has a special personality of its own.

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Glad to hear from you once again. I really like these visits. Come sit on this log and tell me what you are thinking.