The Rain Drops Keep Falling

Today has been another wet miserable day. It was a day of reading and catching up on letter writing and not much else. This shot of a young helleborus getting ready to flower for the first time.. it will be interesting to see what colour it is. I think it will be a white one.

Hellebore History and Mythology
Helleborus have been utilised for medicinal purposes, they are associated with religious myths, and……..they continue to make great history in our gardens.

In ancient times Helleborus was used as medicine. Hippocrates applied Helleborus as a purgative and as a diuretic agent. Helleborus was also used in the treatment of mental diseases. In medieval times it was used to makes salves that witches used. Some thought of Helleborus as a source for the ‘fountain of youth’ that generations have searched for. Today the roots of Helleborus niger are used to treat cardiovascular disease. The ingredient derived from Helleborus is Helebrin.

Helleborus are also known as the ‘Oracle Flower’. Helleborus obtained this name because it was used to predict the weather. Lore has it that people would cut twelve flowers of the ‘Christmas Rose’ and placed them into a vase. Each flowers symbolised one month of the following year. The weather was forecasted by the way the flowers did or did not open. Closed flowers represented bad weather for that month and open flowers represented good weather for that month.
For more information on this interesting plant.