Lenten rose

Today's the day .......................... to hold your head up

It's lovely to find anything in flower at this time of the year but these are really something special. Trouble is - unless you lift up the head - it's easy to miss the exquisite detail within the flower itself.

While they may resemble wild roses and despite some of their common names, such as "Christmas rose" and "Lenten rose", they do not belong to the rose family. Commonly known as hellebores, members of the genus Helleborus comprise approximately 20 species of herbaceous perennial flowering plants in the family Ranunculaceae. Many species are poisonous.

Several legends surround the hellebore - in witchcraft it is believed to have ties to summoning demons. Helleborus niger , commonly called the Christmas rose, owes its name to an old legend that it sprouted in the snow from the tears of a young girl who had no gift to give the Christ child in Bethlehem.........