We were recently given a present of a beautiful hellebore. At the moment we are enjoying it as a houseplant, but it will really be happier outdoors, and we’ll plant it outside as soon as the cold snap finishes. 

Meanwhile I’m enjoying having it indoors, and having the chance to draw it without getting cold! I love its thick, creamy petals, and seeing the seed heads develop.

Hellebores are lovely to have in the garden.  Their flowers, unusually, do not drop, but gradually fade to pale green and eventually dry, thus seeming to flower for months, from winter to spring.

The French know the hellebore as Rose de noёl (Christmas rose) or Rose d’hiver (Winter rose). We in the UK also tend to call it the Christmas rose, or sometimes the Lenten rose. Hellebores are not related to the rose family, but the similarity of shape with the wild rose is clear. 

Although beautiful, all parts of the plant are toxic. According to Wikipedia, the ancient Greeks reportedly used hellebore to poison the water supply during the siege of Kirrha (585BC) leaving the occupants of the city too weak to defend it.