Hellebores are shade tolerant, but can thrive out in the open, too.
In the depths of winter it is hard to find anything providing a lot of joy in the garden, but careful planting can give rise to spots in the garden that will shine.
For me, it is hellebores that brighten up this time of the year, and their subtle shades entrance me more each year.
At first I was a reluctant convert, and for many years puzzled about the way some people seemed to love every slight variation on what seemed a limited palette.
But my tastes and opinions have changed, and although not a confirmed helleborophile, I do like these hardy perennials in the garden.
The first I bought, many, many years ago, was one whose children are still growing in my garden - "White Magic", a form of the plant referred to as the Christmas rose in the Northern Hemisphere.
It is an evergreen perennial that grows 40-50cm high and makes a large clump, 50cm in diameter. At this time of year it has large, white flowers with a green eye. In common with most hellebores, it tends to be a little shy and holds its flowers demurely looking downwards.
The more common hellebores found in the garden are hybrids and forms of the Lenten rose, Helleborus orientalis, native to Greece and Turkey.
It has dark green, leathery leaves with seven- to nine-fingered leaflets. This is the species you find in old gardens, or even growing wild in old cemeteries.
The flowers will generally be whitish or greenish, fading to deeper green as they age, although many will be a ruddy purple colour, which also fades to green. One of the delightful traits of these is many of the flowers are marked with deep crimson speckles on the inside.
Over the past few years there has been an increase in the variety of colours available in this species and the addition of double-flowered forms as well.
There are many different-named varieties available in the trade, but many of these are really strains, rather than vegetatively produced clones, and are thus slightly variable. It pays to befriend your garden centre and let them know exactly what colours you are looking for.
Among the more striking are the very dark ones, usually deep burgundy, sometimes with deeper speckling. This range also throws up slate-blue forms at times, as well as lovely claret shades.
Among the other newer forms around are the "yellow" varieties - but you would need to have golden glasses on to see them as yellow, as they are, at best, primrose coloured. The colour is attractive and if you had a collection of hellebores, you would want a yellow.
And then there are the doubles. These were introduced to New Zealand about 30 years ago, all derived from one plant found in the wild with doubled flowers. It was many years before they were released to the market, and when they were they were very costly plants, but they have since dropped in price and become more available. They make the most attractive garden forms of all the hellebores, with a range of different shapes in the usual hellebore range of colours.
The first form we grew was a yellow one, and it was a bit of a disappointment. It did not flourish and quickly faded away.
Since then we have grown two other colours - a refreshing greenish-white form and a deeper-coloured variety that has been consistently good for the 10 or more years we have grown it.
Most hellebores have similar needs. As they are shade-tolerant they are ideal as ground covers under trees, but they do not need deep shade and will thrive right out in the open if given the right soil conditions.
Enrich their soil with organic compost, or apply a good mulch around their feet. Although they hate sitting in wet soil, they do not like to dry out, especially when they are establishing themselves, so water them in. After that they should only need a little watering in the driest part of summer and a little tidy-up after flowering in late spring. This is also a good time to apply mulch.