hellebores

If you have a garden, you probably enjoy displaying your flowers in your home. I have many small vases and bottles with narrow necks, so that I can pop just one or two flowers into them. When I come indoors after my morning walk, I usually bring what I call my "Flower of the Day." It is the flower that has really caught my eye that I want to look at close-up.

Stripped of its lush spring and summer growth, the winter garden nonetheless has a charm of its own. It is all about contours and shapes and the way the ice and snow transform items and add sparkle.

In early spring when there are no garden flowers available, I am so grateful when I look under the leathery leaves of my hellebores and find flowers to pick for the house. It is a wonderful joy.

The degree of shade is an important factor in gardening, and usually for flowering plants, partial shade is the best.

Cold-season bloomers are rare in the flower world.

My current garden is a shadow of its former self...thanks to the urban deer population. However, a few stalwart plants persist.

Thanks to many years of dedicated plant hybridizing, it is now possible to have four seasons of color in our gardens.