I’m not the “plant person” in the family; my husband is. It usually works like this: I find something I like, he plants it and cares for it while I sit back and enjoy it. Hey, it works for us.
The Better Homes and Garden magazine of February 2011 featured an article on Hellebores, a perennial better known as the Lenten Rose. I had never heard of them before.
The reason for that name is because they typically bloom during Lent (the six weeks leading up to Easter). They are not members of the rose family, but their unopened buds look like rosebuds. They are one of the very first blossoms after winter. And sometimes even during winter!
We finally found a local dealer selling Hellebores in March of 2014. The first two years were just so-so for the blooms. Although another detail that made them attractive to me is that their leaves stay evergreen, so that even when everything else outside looks bleak, their dark green foliage gives me hope that spring will come again. New leaves emerge as the early spring flowers fade out. So they are an all-season ground cover.
Anyone living in Virginia (or most of the Northeast section of the US) can verify that so far this has been a roller coaster of a winter and early spring. Temperatures have been in the high 70s one day only to drop to the 30s the next. We had our only snow within the last two weeks. It’s been crazy.
So naturally, I’ve been concerned about the Hellebores surviving. The flowers are so delicate. But they have been able to stand up to the wide variances of temperature (sometimes below freezing) and the wind and the sleet and the snow. This year the plants have lots of blooms.
These plants grow best when they can get the morning sun and be shaded from the harsh afternoon light. Plant experts suggest you trim old foliage away before the new flowers burst forth. Hellebores benefit from slow-release fertilizer placed into the soil around them.
To my thinking, this flower deserves to be called Lenten Rose not just because of when it blooms but because our faith can benefit from the same type of care.
Lent is a time for reflection…a time for us to sit in the quiet of the morning sun and consider what our faith means to us. Lent is also a time of giving up…trimming away the old foliage of characteristics that are not beneficial to us or in our relationships with others. Lent is a good time of receiving “nutrients for our soul” by taking on selfless acts to help others.
Although Hellebores is not an attractive word in and of itself, we would be wise to bloom as they do, withstanding whatever comes their way and steadfastly pointing the way to Easter.
To my readers: Do you have a story to share about a Lenten tradition you observe?
