Lenten Rose in bloom

The sunny weather has gone today, but I managed to spend about 10 minutes in the garden looking for things to snap. With the ground being very wet, it was obviously time for getting down on the hands and knees for a close up and this dark bloom on a Lenten Rose (Helleborus orientalis) is my pick of the day. These are amazing flowers - a week ago the snow was deeper than the top of this plant, yet it still manages to hold its head high - and the blooms last for weeks. I love them and have lots of them in our garden where they seem to thrive.