It was the last week in January when I saw my first hellebore bloom. I should have taken a picture of it, but for whatever reason I didn't get it done and then it got covered with six inches of snow. Hellebores are tolerant of frost, but these have some damage due to repeated freezing and thawing which has become the norm around here. The hellebore I saw didn't have all the spots on it like these do.
They're not fully open and they might not be very pretty, but that first bloom in the garden always gives hope that spring is right around the corner.
This is a baby from one of my plants. It takes them 3-4 years before they bloom.
I noticed a few of my plants had all or some of their foliage nipped off. I thought they were deer resistant. I can tell the stems are there but nothing else. I don't know if the deer will eat them if they get desperate or what else it could be. I've never had that happen before.
Question: What is the first thing to bloom in your garden in the spring, and which do you look forward to the most? For me it's the hellebore's that bloom first and the one I look forward to the most is Virginia Bluebells.
Linking to:
Garden Blogger's Bloom Day
