Mary's Religious Green Thumb

I had thoght that Christmas cactus only bloom once a year, but Mary's (overachievers that they are) bloom four times a year. So they are in bloom now -- a pink one and a red one.

So pretty.

But there's more, not only does she have Christmas cactus, but the religious theme continues with her Lenten Rose, shown below.

 



Mary writes: I don't think I've ever sent you a picture of my Lenten Rose (hellebores), partly because they're on the side of my house by the kitchen door so I don't always walk by them. They also are hard to show  because their pretty bell-like blossoms kind of point down.  Anyway, I thought they looked awfully pretty this morning. 

So let's have our Botany 101 lesson, courtesy of Clemson University Extension and Google Images.   The folks at Clemson explain: Lenten rose is an evergreen, 15- to 18-inch tall groundcover with leathery, dark-green, shiny foliage. Their new growth generally appears during late January and February, and precedes the 3- to 4-inch nodding, cup-shaped flowers that quickly emerge through the mulch or snow layer. The flowers are most commonly white or lavender, but breeders have developed crosses with shades of pink, plum, green, dark purple, red and yellow. And some more photos:

 

So let's have our Botany 101 lesson, courtesy of Clemson University Extension and Google Images.

 

The folks at Clemson explain: Lenten rose is an evergreen, 15- to 18-inch tall groundcover with leathery, dark-green, shiny foliage. Their new growth generally appears during late January and February, and precedes the 3- to 4-inch nodding, cup-shaped flowers that quickly emerge through the mulch or snow layer.

The flowers are most commonly white or lavender, but breeders have developed crosses with shades of pink, plum, green, dark purple, red and yellow.

And some more photos: