The Lakeland Gardener

With the Easter Holidays fast approaching it seems appropriate to write about the Lenten Rose or to use their proper name Helleborus x hybridus, a plant that looks good from January to May.     Hellebores are easy to grown and undemanding. The foliage is evergreen and bold.    Some of the new hybrids have marbled leaves that look as gorgeous as the flower.    When the seed sets the sepals are beautiful, slowly turning green.         Hellebores tolerate full sun to almost full shade.   The colours of their sepals are varied, apricot, damson, grey, crimson, soft green, black and white.    Most Hellebores have downward facing flowers that protect the pollen from rain sheltering the insects that feed on them.   Bees love hellebores their colours, spots and stripes.    Double or single these pollen rich flowers are the first to attract bumble bees in winter. Hellebores thrive in rich, moisture-retentive soil but are not lovers of boggy conditions.   The plants lend themselves to informal pl

  A nymph named Echo fell in love with a young Greek called Narcissus.     According to Greek mythology Narcissus broke Echo’s heart so she lived alone until nothing but the ricochet of her echo remained. Nemesis, the Goddess of divine retribution and revenge, heard of the story and lured Narcissus to a pond.     Handsome and vain, Narcissus saw his mirror image in the pool.     He leaned forward to see himself.    Narcissus fell in the pond, drowned and turned into a flower. The Narcissus flower was brought to England by the Romans who thought the sap from the plant had healing powers. The common name for Narcissus is daffodil.     The flowers have a central trumpet surrounded by six petal like tepals that are usually yellow or white.    The flowers stand on sturdy stems, above slender leaves, reaching from just 8 ins (20 cm) tall up to 20 ins (50 cm) depending on the cultivar. Within the English Lake District National Park the most common perennial flowering plant is Narcissus