Christmas Rose ......

...... rather early.

A couple of weeks ago, I spent several hours weeding and clearing the bed alongside the office. It's very shady, so we'd planted hostas there, but they've never been very successful - prone to slug attack and tending to spill out over the path (which in any case is narrower than ideal). So we're changing the planting. I've taken out the hostas (we'll put some in pots on gravel to deter the slugs) and some candelabra primulas which we'll move to beside the pond. Still not certain what we'll plant instead.

Meanwhile, I was pleased to uncover this little Hellebore, nestling under the fern. The current flower was very early, and is looking a bit moth eaten, but there's another bud.

I want to do the same with the bed alongside the garage, just waiting for energy and inclination to coincide with decent weather.

Incidentally, the plants in our garden seem very confused. I mentioned a few weeks ago that we have a foxglove flowering - it's still going. This Christmas Rose is very early. And the hostas, instead of being completely dormant, are already showing the start of growth for next year.