One plant I love in early spring is the HELLEBORE. I have several throughout the yard, and yesterday I started to prune all last year's foliage off, which leaves a center of emerging foliage and buds of wonderful flowers. Hellebore's are like forsythia--they get their flowers first, then when they are through blooming, the abundant, beautiful, green, waxy leaves fold out. They are just starting to emerge, but, in no time at all, a huge bouquet of long-lasting blooms, followed by those great leaves, will adorn the garden. The leaves stay throughout the year--and even last through the winter months. Hellebore are very hardy, and this time of year it's nice to see some color--it is the first perennial to bloom in the garden beds. They come in a range of colors--I have spotted, yellow, pink, red, blue, ivory and even a double one. One of my favorites is a beautiful dark mahogany with dark leaves, that eventually turn dark green. Another is called IVORY PRINCE--and its foliage is a little different from the others, but stellar! To prune, just snip off the old leaves to the ground, then enjoy it's long-lived blooms for months!
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