Hellebores are all excellent garden plants, ranging from the small Christmas rose (H. niger) up to some substantial herbaceous perennials, and flowering from mid winter (a highly prized virtue) through spring. Even after the flowers are over, many of them have persistent lime green calyces, which will happily pass for flowers. The tough, leathery leaves persist all year, but it is a good idea to cut them back just before the new ones emerge, so that their beauty can be enjoyed without distraction. Add humus to the soil in autumn.

Helleborus niger is the Christmas rose, and often lives up to its name, but even if it doesn't it is worth waiting for. The flowers and leaves appear more or less together, the leaves with up to nine 'fingers' (or toes, since the botantical term is 'pedate'), and the flowers large, white bowls, sometimes tinged with pink. They tolerate the worst of the winter weather, and last for ages.