Helleborus niger

Christmas Rose
(Cecil Day Lewis)

'What is the flower that blooms each year 
In flowerless days
Making a little blaze
On the bleak earth - giving my heart some cheer?

Harsh the sky and hard the ground
When the Christmas rose is found
Look! It's white star, low on earth
Rays a vision of rebirth.

The miraculous flowering of Hellebore Niger- really does gladden the heart and bring hope of spring in these short dark days of mid winter