If you are like everyone else you are looking for any color you can find in your garden. Except at this time of year in late winter/early spring there is not much to be found, evergreen shrubs and trees are the main colors in our landscapes now.

However, there is a perennial that will provide you flowers and color starting in February and continuing until through the springtime. This lovely plant is the wonderful Hellebore, commonly known as the Lenten Rose since it begins blooming around the beginning of Lent.

The most popular variety is the Oriental Hybrid that comes in a number of colors and patterns. The colors range from very dark purples to apricots to greens to whites, with more becoming available every year. Additional variations have veins or spots, edging colors different from flower color and dark centers. There are also single and double flower variations giving you many options for your garden.

Let Nature’s Friends Landscaping find the most outstanding varietals for your garden and plant them in the best location for the health of the plant. It’s best to shop for them when they are in bloom to assure you are getting the color you desire.

Not only does it help you achieve your goal of a four-season garden, it is evergreen, loves the shade and is easy to grow. They prefer partial shade; if placed in full sun the leaves will burn as the spring moves into summer, and if they are in full shade it will inhibit flower production. Don’t plant them where the ground is wet, it will promote rot and you will lose the plant.

They will produce plenty of seedlings each year so they are good for spreading in an area if that is what you desire. It is a slow process though, they are not invasive, and it is easy to pull up the seedlings to inhibit the spread. You may also want to pull them up if you prefer the color of the parent plant because the seedling may not be that color. Division is not necessary but if you want to replicate the color you can divide them.