Hellebores Frostkiss Anna at Rockbarton

Heavenly Helleborus

Heavenly Helleborus

February is here and I hear a sigh from the Nation to say thankfully January is over.  I have to admit, I like the slow pace of January, there’s lots of warm soups and cosy fires and nights in watching movies.  The garden during January is slowly awakening from its slumber and we start to see the Snowdrops peeping up through the soil with Crocus bulbs not far behind.  February to some is the start of Spring, that’s how I was taught in our school calendar. I’m not sure Mother Nature would agree, she likes to beat her own drum! We are lucky that we will have so much to look forward to and welcome this month, with St. Brigids day giving us a new Bank Holiday and Valentine’s day just around the corner! (I’ll have lots of gift ideas for Valentine’s day this month!)

Heavenly Helleborus

Hell what now.. Helleborus, never heard of them, I hear you say! Sometimes they are called a Christmas Rose, Easter Rose, Lenten Rose.  There are lots of different names for the Helleborus.  There are so many different varieties of Helleborus available.  Helleborus flowers grow in different shades of pinks, purples, whites and creams.  They are related to the buttercup family, you know the flowers that you used to check and see if your friends liked butter when you were kids – they are all in what’s called the Ranuculus family.

Helleborus can flower from November time right through until May.  They are one of the longest flowering perennials at this time of year.  I would recommend planting your Helleborus close to where you will see it during the winter months.  Plant them somewhere close to the house/path you travel on quite a bit, when you’re going to the car etc. They can be planted in flower beds and borders or even into pots.

If you are lucky enough to already have Helleborus in your garden, prune back the old leaves now.  It will give you a better look at the new flowers and buds which are appearing on the plants.  Helleborus will retain their leaves throughout the year. They are really easy to grow and low maintenance providing us with lots of colour during the darkest months of the year.

Camellias & Roses

The Camellia is getting ready to flower now.  I have one planted in the garden and I must remember to move it.  They don’t like the morning sun, as the frost will damage the flower buds when the sun is burning off the frost from them,. These are evergreen shrubs, they like Ericaceous soil and feed.  I normally top mine up this time of year with both brown gold and feed to give an extra boost when flowering.

Speaking of Roses, this is a great time to prune your roses for the season head.  Roses love nothing more than been cut down to size! In giving them a good pruning and a feed then on a regular basis, you’ll have lots of flowers, I particularly like rose varieties that will flower throughout the summer months.

If you have any questions then don’t hesitate to call into Rockbarton Garden Centre, open Monday to Saturday from 10am to 5pm,

Thanks, Lynda

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