A lovely bouquet of vibrant red roses is the pre-eminent gift for your special loved-one on Valentine’s Day. But why not Hellebores, too?

I received these beautiful photos from fellow Tillamook County Master Gardener, Mark Kuestner. He took the photos this morning. Aside from the multitude of colors and variety of blooms, these plants have other virtues being both drought tolerant and deer-resistant. And, as is obvious from the photos below, bring outstanding blossom color and foliage to your winter garden.

After a week of sleet, rain, fog and wind my ‘winter garden’ is looking pretty bleak. To get ideas on future plantings to cure this issue, I found OSU’s article ‘The Winter Garden Doesn’t Have to Be Bare of Flowers‘ which discusses Hellebores as follows: ‘Commonly called Lenton Rose or Christmas rose, hellebores come in several colors and foliage forms. They are sturdy and grow 1 to 2 feet tall, with large flowers in white, yellow, green, pink or purple. Some of the species are hardy to USDA Zone 4, making them suitable for gardens throughout most of Oregon. In most places, you can expect blooming to begin by late February.’

So our appreciation to Mark for sharing this portion of his garden with us today. Mark and Linda’s entire garden is featured in TCMGA’s 2020 virtual Spade & Wade Garden Tour. All of the gardens on the tour can be viewed on our Events page.

Hope everyone had a Happy Valentine’s Day!