I confess I find it difficult to cut flowers from the garden and bring them indoors, but after hearing Jonathan Moseley's inspirational talk at Malvern last year, I'm striving to change my ways. My first attempt is this bowl of floating hellebore flowers from the back garden. I'm so new to this game you can see I've pressed one of my cooking bowls into service in the absence of something more special. It doesn't really matter as what really counts is the result, where the beauty of the flowers is brought sharply into focus.
I have a selection of unnamed doubles in the back garden, plus a couple of H. ericsmithii 'Winter Moonbeam'. The latter are a little past their best, but show hellebores can continue to look good after then. I have some single flowered ones in the front garden too, but because that's north facing, they've yet to bloom. I don't know what they are either; they were given to me by a friend from choir, so they're probably seedling children from her parent flowers. I call them 'June's flowers' and I smile at her memory when I see them.
I plan to have my own cutting garden this year, all grown in pots in the absence of space in the main garden. It's an idea I've pinched from my dear friend Helen, who managed it perfectly in her small Toronto garden last year. I've had a delicious time choosing which seeds to grow for the tiny space I have - more on this project to come in future posts.
Have you tried a floating hellebore flower display? I rather like it!
Garden Bloggers' Blooms Day is brought to you by Carol at May Dreams Gardens.