Color in winter. Sounds like a nice change to the usual white, brown, black, and grey. After seeing this all winter Im planning on adding some plants that actually produce color in the snow. One of my favorite flowers is Iris, so naturally, I thought I would start here. After consulting the mother of all search engines, Google, I find that Iris reticulata is the earliest of all Iris, blooming in January in some gardens. Great, might be what Im looking for.  read more »

I inherited my love of plants from my mother, the Hellebore Queen. She often took me plant-shopping with her at Mr. Miles' nursery, a wonderfully shabby labyrinth of clear-plastic greenhouses and planting beds behind a modest house on the other side of town. I would like to say that I was a plant prodigy, that at age five I knew the best cultivars for our Zone 8 climate, and that I frequently stopped on my tricycle to advise gardeners on proper pruning technique.  read more »

Just take a look at this sad sack. It is one of three Hellebores I moved last summer. They were merely existing in their previous spot so I moved them here near the blackberries. They appeared to be doing well until this week when I noticed this one lying down on the job. As the tag says it is Blackthorne Strain Lenten Rose. I don't know if this would help with a diagnosis. The other two look quite happy about themselves. One has a fern that is trying to encroach upon its turf. This I can easily deal with but it is the sickly one I am worried about. I figure I should be making funeral arrangements for it. Compost or dump? I wonder if what it has is catching?  read more »

I'm not really a fan of rhododendrons, but this baby's been blooming its head off for months, and who can complain about that? The lime green hellebore below it actually looks like a color combination I would have planned if...

Much anticipated for several weeks as winter winds down, Mom and I attended the Ft. Wayne (IN) Home and Garden Show on its opening day. Walking into the Expo Hall at the Memorial Coliseum brought a smile to both our faces as we walked between all that greenness that you could also smell.  read more »

Much anticipated for several weeks as winter winds down, Mom and I attended the Ft. Wayne (IN) Home and Garden Show on its opening day. Walking into the Expo Hall at the Memorial Coliseum brought a smile to both our faces as we walked between all that greenness that you could also smell.  read more »

Much anticipated for several weeks as winter winds down, Mom and I attended the Ft. Wayne (IN) Home and Garden Show on its opening day. Walking into the Expo Hall at the Memorial Coliseum brought a smile to both our faces as we walked between all that greenness that you could also smell.  read more »

Text and photos Nancy J. Ondra Back in my March Bloom Day post, I made a comment about loving all of my hybrid hellebores (Helleborus x hybridus). At the time, I meant it. But now that they’ve been in bloom for a few weeks, I find myself qualifying that statement frequently. Some clumps I visit daily [...]