Spring garden blooms

By Carol Michel

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Several years ago, my sisters decided that I should host our family Easter egg hunt because my backyard has the most hiding places and blooms in early spring.

It is true that there will be something blooming at Easter time in my garden regardless of when Easter is. Some years, like this year, there will be mostly daffodils in bloom. Other years when Easter is later, there would be tulips blooming, too. And every year there will be Lenten roses in bloom for the big egg hunt.

Lenten roses, which are sometimes called Hellebores, a shortened version of their botanical name Helleborus, prefer to grow in full- to part-shade. They are evergreen and will stay as a nice mound of foliage throughout the winter, never seeming to mind being covered with snow. In late winter, their flower buds will begin to form, even under snow, and at that point, the old foliage begins to die and droop to the ground.

When this happens, the old foliage can be cut back, leaving the plants looking a bit sparse and awkward. After a few days, though, new foliage will grow and the flower buds will open to become a beautiful blooming plant in the shade garden in early spring, when little else is in bloom.

The most common Lenten roses are hybrids, with blooms ranging from white to pink, mauve and magenta. Some plants may even have green blooms. As the blooms begin to fade, the foliage continues to grow up around them, so deadheading is not necessary. In fact, blooms left through the summer will often set seed and allow the Lenten roses to colonize with new seedlings around the base of the existing plants. These seedlings can be allowed to grow on or be dug up and shared with others. However, because most Lenten roses are hybrids, the blooms of the seedlings may be different colors than those of the original plant.

But regardless of the bloom color, the center of a Lenten rose is the perfect place to hide an Easter egg full of candy.

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