On day 12 of advent we’re offering the chance to win a hand painted fern bin and tissue box from Master the Art, worth £180.
30.11.2023 - 08:11 / houseandgarden.co.uk
Who would be without a hellebore or two in the dark months of February and early March, when we long for the onset of spring? Their generous, characterful flowers bring colour and hope to the garden when we need it most, and they really don’t need much to keep them happy.
Hellebores have been cultivated for thousands of years, even as far back as Greek and Roman times, when the plant that we now know as the Christmas rose or the black hellebore (Helleborus niger) was used in medicine. Containing powerful compounds that can be poisonous in large quantities, the roots were believed to be a cure for mental disorders. Britain’s only wild hellebore is Helleborus viridus, which is found in small pockets of the country, particularly on chalky woodland. It is a beautiful plant, with half a dozen or more nodding flowers, their outer petals the same fresh-green as the leaves, with clusters of creamy stamens inside. The Corsican hellebore, H. argutifolius, also has green flowers – paler, and held together in clusters – while H. foetidus, the stinking hellebore, has tough, dark green leaves that contrast with a tallish stem bearing numerous pale green bells.
H. x hybridus ''Frostkiss Glenda's Gloss'
But these wild species of hellebore are less showy than the hybrid plants that most people are drawn to. Known as H. x hybridus, these seed raised hybrids come in a seemingly unending variety of colours – from deep, luscious plum and buttercup yellow to slate grey and purpley-black, some beautifully marked with spots or blotches, others with extravagant double flowers or ‘anemone’ ruffles. In commercial terms, most of these hybrids are difficult to propagate vegetatively (by division) so they are raised from seed, meaning that the flowers
On day 12 of advent we’re offering the chance to win a hand painted fern bin and tissue box from Master the Art, worth £180.
Dramatic and elegant, amaryllis (Hippeastrum) are bulbous indoor plants that cheer us through the coldest months. The huge flowers bloom atop tall, sturdy stems, opening like colourful trumpets, as if about to blast away the winter blues with a clarion call.
Day 10 of our advent prize draw gives entrants the opportunity to win a DNA’24 DB26 Bread Knife from Savernake worth £199. Please note you must be over 18 to enter this prize draw.
Our eleventh prize is a Gold Smokebox, worth £105 from Lambton & Jackson.
Day 9 of our Christmas advent prize draw gives you the chance to win WOLF-Garten’s Bypass Loppers worth £119.99.
The Isles of Scilly are like an idealised version of England – where the sun always shines, the food is wonderful, there’s no traffic and no one locks their doors! To say the sun always shines is an exaggeration, but they’re among the sunniest and mildest places in the UK – sea breezes mean it’s never too hot or humid and thanks to the Jetstream, they almost never have frost.
Hidden behind the door for day 8 of our advent prize draw is a bundle of tools from gardening brand Wilkinson Sword, worth £114.97.
Enter our day 7 prize draw for your chance to win ‘his and hers’ Buckingham wellington boots worth £109.98 from Harbour Lifestyle.
Offering some of the closest beaches to London, Essex has a reputation for kiss-me-quick resorts and dormitory commuter towns. The truth is that this flat county, defined by slow-flowing rivers, estuaries, salt marshes and oyster beds, abounds in subtle charm. The Romans settled in Colchester and evidence of their occupation can be found in many coastal settlements. In the 1560s Flemish protestants brought their silk-weaving skills to the town, while the Dutch reclaimed swathes of land for farming.
Our sixth advent prize draw gives readers the chance to win a variety of seed mix grab bags from Seedball, worth £105.
Robins can lose up to 10% of their body weight keeping warm over a single winter’s night. With reports that the La Nina weather system may bring harsh cold spells in winter 2022-23, added to the problem of disappearing food sources and habitats over the UK, robins – and other garden birds – could do with some support this season.
Our fifth advent prize draw comes with your chance to win a Deluxe Hedgehog House XXL, worth £124.99 from CJ Wildlife.