Helleborus ‘Lividus’ bears heavily laden clusters of elegant, cup-shaped blooms with cream-green petals suffused by dusky pink. The evergreen foliage is equally attractive, with blue-green, serrated leaves overlaid by an elaborate web of silver veining. Thriving on slightly alkaline soils, this variety will benefit from some frost protection. Blooming from December to March, Hellebores provide an invaluable source of nectar to early-flying pollinators and are recognised by the RHS in their ‘Plants for Pollinators’ scheme. Watch with delight as bees giddily flit amongst the blooms on a sunny February day, before the rest of the garden has awoken.

Striking saucer-shaped flowers in a variety of sweet, dusty pinks bloom from February to April on Helleborus ‘Orientalis Pink.’

This variety looks stunning teamed with deep berry and black toned Hellebores in a woodland border and is attractive to bees and early pollinators.

Sturdy stems grow up to 35cm tall, so plant Orientalis Pink where the flowers will be seen and appreciated, in a partly shaded area and in soil which is rich in leaf mould.

Deep green, leathery leaves provide year-round interest. It is advisable to prune the foliage back to its base when buds appear in late winter in order to help the flowers be more visible and to keep the plants in good health.

A bashful little bloom, the faces of Helleborus ‘Orientalis White Spotted’ point modestly towards the ground. Gently lift the flowers up to reveal their astonishing, intricate beauty –double, frilled layers of alabaster petals are delicately stippled with burgundy freckles. These clusters of demure blooms are shown to advantage by glossy, serrated, evergreen foliage. The leathery, rabbit resistant leaves make excellent woodland ground cover. Blooming from December to March, the flowers are invaluable to early-season pollinators when other nectar sources are scarce, hence the RHS ranks Hellebores highly in their ‘Plants for Pollinators’ scheme.