Hellebores - dark purple

Hellebore - up close and personal

And then there are the dark purple Hellebores (winter rose) in full swing right now. These are my favourites, but only because they are so few at the moment, in my garden. Other colours I have great swathes of, but this purple is from seeds my clever father grew for me. These little plants are individually nurtured. I feel the pain when one of the dogs (not naming any names here, FRITZ) tramples on the plant and snaps off a season's flower stalk with one great goofy paw. Luckily there are four other plants, and there is always next year. The optimsim of gardeners!!!