JC Raulston Arboretum's hellebores!

Last year we visited the arboretum a little earlier in the season, saw nothing this exciting! So the winter garden is at peak and wow! Here are some of the photos I took and many we want in our garden.

 A large pink single from Ashwood Gardens.

 A species hellebore Helleborus torquatus. We need this is our garden!

 Another species hellebore Helleborus odorus. New to me, tall and knocked over.

 Love this one. It was marked as an Ashwood Gardens hybrid. Look at the difference in an older bloom next to it.

 Here is a pink semi double show stopper. Wow I want this in our garden!

 A new species hellebore for me: Helleborus Atrorubens

 A new species hellebore for me: Helleborus Atrorubens

 Here is a double called 'Snow Queen'

 Funny name 'Cattleya Semline' I like the way this picotee's petals fan out.

 This yellow picotee was next to Golden Sunrise, it was Meg's favorite!

 'Golden Sunrise' very nice I want this one for our garden!

 This one was tagged Yellow lenten rose.

 Peppermint Ice, we also have this beautiful hellebore in our garden.

 Had to be my favorite in the garden wow!

This huge deep red hellebore was very upright and has red stems, wow!

This might be the best collection of hellebores I have seen in NC mainly because of all the species hellebores. Pine Knot Farms in Virginia is much more exciting and has a lot more varieties, mainly because they breed them. Two weeks before they have the Hellebore festival!

First of February Hellebores

Folks,

Back to cold weather again this morning the thermometer said 21 degrees at 8am this morning. The pond and bird feeders are covered in ice. My mission today once it warms up more is to build a bird cage for 5 Ringed-neck Doves. Meg's daughter is leaving them in the care of Meg's school for a while. She has had them in her screened porch, I heard last night she has been finding eggs.

Anyway the hellebores are moving right along, noticing lots of babies around them. Sorry if my memory fails me Tina sent me some seeds last year, there are babies where I spread them now! My 'Gold Finch" hellebore which bloomed wonderfully last year has babies too, pretty excited about them.

Here they are from the garden yesterday.

Here is 'Winter's Song' bought it 2 years ago at Southern States, it had close to 50 blooms on it when I bought it. Thought it was a goner by the end of the first season. Season two one flower stalk, it lived IMO barely. Back in good standing this year.

This most likely a Hellebous Niger. We've had it for years, finally it blooms. Lovely foliage too.

This deep red Hellebore was one of the $10 quart Pine Knot Farms un bloomed possible doubles. Well you can see it is not a double, but still a winner, I love it!

This pink is one of our really big helleobore plants, has lots of babies under it.

This is the second year for Helleborus Viridis a species hellebore from Northern Italy. These are supposed to be hard to grow, it dies back over the summer then returns in the winter. This was smashed by a big hickory limb and lived!.

 'Red Lady" it was one of two of our first hellebores purchased here. The other 'Blue Lady' in not blooming yet.

I put this one on my facebook page yesterday. It is another of the un bloomed doubles I got from PKF. Lovely isn't it.

This is the deepest red we have it is called "Birkins" was given to me by my friend Breezy.

 Another PKF un bloomed double. Think I'll get a few more of these mystery plants this year.

 We have had this for 3 or 4 years finally a first bloom 'Swirling Skirts' Wow!

This pink one is small but wow!

Another PKF double, this is the whitest hellebore we have!

Here is one of the 2 tiny cyclamen we bought last year at the PKF Pine Knot Farms Hellebore Festival, it is a 75 minute drive from here. Think we'll get a few more there is a guy that brings at least a dozen different ones. The Festival is February 22 -23 and March 1-2  we hope to go this year.

We it is now 31 degrees out there I'm going to build that bird cage.