The gift that keeps on giving

One of the unexpected pleasures of planting a garden is the exchange of gifts between gardening friends.  It is the natural result of growth: when a plant gets too big, you divide it up and give away the surplus.  This results not only in a gift that continues to give pleasure over long periods, but also means that a clone of the plant is alive and well not too far away, as a backup in case disaster overcomes one's own plant.

At this time of year, colour in the garden is rare and special.  These two Hellebores are both gifts; the green one on the right from Leo and the white one on the left from Mum.  The green one has been in place for a few years now and is thriving after a slightly dodgy start.  It looks to me like Helleborus Foetidus, the stinking Hellebore, though I haven't noticed a bad smell.  The white one looks a bit tatty at the moment but I think it will be fine. The flowers are shy but pretty and worth the effort to seek them out.

And Spring can't be far away because I have the first Daff out.  As long as we don't get a nasty -15° frost between now and spring (like we did last year, and that clobbered all the daffs), I am hoping for plenty more of the same.