H is for Hyacinths and Hellebore

Yesterday was Grape Hyacinths, so we’ll just move on to the big brother/sister? They don’t look much alike but they do come back reliably once they are planted and will spread given time. Most of the hyacinths I have in my yard where purchased as ‘pots’ from the grocery store in the winter when you NEED some inside color and sign of spring. Once they finish flowering, just cut off the flower stem and keep watering them in a sunny spot and when the weather warms enough plant them in the garden. They will reward you with flowers next year and the year after that and so on.

I love buying plants like this for indoors that can be transitioned outdoors for the rest of time. So this is the flower of the day.

It could just as easily have been Hellebore another early flowering plant. It now comes in a wide range of colors. And I’ve seen some yards that have hellebore planted in great swaths in beds. Truly decadent in my mind as that’s a lot of plants and I’m not sure my budget could go there. At the rate I am going I may reach that density.

And I’m including Hellebore as they make me think of my aunt. Hers was probably the first garden I was aware of having these early flowering plants. Flowering even before the northern Illinois winters were ready to let go.