Thursday 3 February 2011

The Color of Hope is Green



Gruen ist die Hoffnung.....


I am ignoring the weather and...

...the 'Grey'.....


and enjoying our winter-flowering shrubs....


like this evergreen Viburnum tinus (Laurustinus)...


 bringing here pleasure and some 'Freshness' into the house.

*

Getting exited by the first flower-signs.....

of our  Helleborus foetidus......


which multiply/reproduce itself.....


 spreading out quite nicely.....


allover in our garden,

and continues flowering into summer

here in full flower.

*

Waiting for...

 the withe Helleborus orientalis ...

to come into flower,


and looking forward to...

our Helleborus hybridus, flowering from April/Mai to July

*

HELLEBORES

"....on l'appelle Rose de Noël. Mais elle ne ressemble pas
a la rose, pas même a la petite églantine émue et rougissante,
sinon qu'elle a cinq pétales, comme tout le monde."
Colette, Pour un herbier 

 19th century illustration of Helleborus niger

Several legends surround the hellebore;
in witchcraft it is believed to have ties to summoning demons.
Helleborus niger is commonly called the Christmas rose,
due to an old legend that it spouted in the snow
from the tears of a young girl who had no gift to give the Christ child in Bethlehem.



*

In Greek mythology, Melampus of Pylos used hellebore to save
the daughters of the king of Argos from a madness,
induced by Dionysus, that caused them to run naked through the city,
crying, weeping, and screaming.

During the Siege of Kirrha in 585 BC, 
hellebore was reportedly used by the Greek besiegers 
to poison the city's water supply.
The defenders were subsequently so weakened by diarrhea
that they were unable to defend the city from assault. (ohhps!)

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Helleborus orientalis prune sombre
- COTE SUD December 2000 -

"Cueillie, ses coquillages sensibles desserreront leurs joints
a la tiédeur d'une chambre, délivrant la houppe des étamines
jaunes, heureuses de vivre et de diverger..."
Colette, Pour un herbier

Helleborus orientalis double blanche

Helleborus orientalis poupre sombre
- COTE SUD  December 2000 -


- COTE SUD December 2000 -


- COTE SUD December 2000 -

*

The Color of Hope is Green !

7 comments:

  1. Hi Karin, Is your viburnum really blooming right now? What a beautiful specimen you have. I love my Helleborous. They are still sleeping under the snow. It was minus 26 degrees Celcius early this morning.

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  2. gorgeous....happy to have found you!! xx pam

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  3. Karin,
    Guess we are thinking alike, I am looking through my spring garden pictures...the world news is so grave and it is 27 degrees here in Texas... I still have electricity unlike most of my state. Yeah!
    Your Helleborous are beautiful...new life!
    Thank you for posting them.
    Love the arrangement in silver.
    Lee

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  4. I am totally jealous you have flowers blooming this time of the year Karin. I could only guess the location of my flowerbeds since they're buried so deeply under snow right now. Love Hellebores but we won't see ours until April. Beautiful post!

    Debra,

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  5. I love my Hellebores; they brighten up the shady corner of our courtyard that doesn't get any sun.

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  6. Dear Gina, Yes, the viburnum is flowering right now! Took photos on same day as I wrote this post.

    This viburnum tinus starts flowering in Mid- to late December, and has also one or two more flowering saesons during the year, depend on its "mood". k

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  7. Hello Lee,
    thank you very much for your comment! I do hope, that the situation at your "place" is getting better for all of you. Following the news.....

    All my best wishes to you and Texas,
    Keep warm!
    Karin

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