Hellebore

"If I look at it for long enough," said R, "will something come into focus?"

You just can't get the staff.

A quiet day today, largely due to the kind of weather you stay indoors to avoid. We did pop out to buy some flowers and have coffee this morning, before the monsoon struck, and I couldn't resist buying this hellebore as well.

A few years ago, back when I still willingly did gardening, I unwisely planted a phormium in a new flower bed I'd created, and it likes it so much there that it's trying to take over the entire space. So sadly it will have to go - sadly for me because I don't like killing things, sadly for the flax which is going to be uprooted, and in all likelihood sadly for R, who will probably be asked to bear the brunt of the digging. I'm prepared to give it a go, but I suspect the flax's roots will be stronger than my back. Anyway, the point is that this hellebore looked like just the thing to replace the flax without being too pushy, and buying it means that I'm going to have to get on with making it a home, rather than just saying (as I've been doing for the past six months, "That phormium is going to have to go."

Thanks very much indeed for all the love you bestowed on yesterday's flamingo - I went all pink around the ears when I got up this morning and saw how much you liked it!