Winter Wednesday Workday

Who knew we would actually get a 65-degree day this week?

  

Apparently the weather guessers did, because they were right in calling this one.  Of course, we got snow the next day, but that's par for the course in these parts.

 Before - a dense growth of large hand-like leaves.

That little window of good weather - on Monday when I had the day off! - provided the opportunity to clean out the hellebore bed.  I have been bemoaning the lack of hellebores in bloom.  I often get them in December, but they are late this year and i had not seen even one.  But they were lurking!

 After: room to breath and room for the blooms to come up in the center of the clumps.

If you have hellebores you know that like most perennials they need some annual clean up.  [I love perennials, but they are certainly not work-free once they are established.]  At least once a year one needs to cut back all of the old dying greenery.  It creates a densely packed top cover of older stems that look like giant hands and that completely cover the new growth and hide the new blooms.  I found many clumps of buds that were literally growing sideways due to the weight of the old leaves.

 A dark, dark purple - but filled with blooms.

It took me nearly two hours to clean out the old growth and to cart it to the trash cans - I filled an entire 100 gallon can!  But the results were worth it. 

 One of my favorite pinks.

Even a posey or two for the house.

 A little something to enjoy.

 And the added benefit of nearly two hours of glute and hamstring stretching.  At least two Advil for this!

A couple of days of sunshine - after the snow provides some additional water - and I expect to have lots of blooms for the next couple of months.  

Thanks, Mom!