A blanket of snow is not enough to stop the first stirrings of spring down at grass roots level. The thaw at the end of January did its thing overnight and revealed that plenty was going on hidden from view. The snowdrops of course seemed unperturbed and perfectly happy to flower inside their icy cocoon. They made a dramatic entrance overnight nestled amongst half rotted magnolia leaves while the hellebores too were well on their way with fat pink and ruby rich buds being gently hoisted aloft on soft rhubarb-like stems. 

When the question ‘what is your favourite winter flower’? is asked, the answer is often dominated by just a few, albeit worthy, contenders. Snowdrops, aconites and crocus generate much excitement in late winter and early spring, and rightly so as their delicate flowers remind us that winter is on the wane. There are though other flowering plants that are worth a place in the winter garden and, although they will never compete with the heavyweights, two in particular that have buckets of charm are Iris unguicularis and Helleborus niger.