Cross

The weather somehow managed to get even worse today, and as stormy weather is one of the things that can make my joints flare I've mainly stayed in the warmth of the house and spent the day getting useful things done. I did venture out for about five minutes this afternoon though, to choose a flower for an indoor photo.

Over the years I've planted white, pink, and purple hellebores, but never a blotchy one like this, so I assume that this is a self-sown cross between two of my original plants. I've also planted some named hybrid varieties, which are patented against being bred on, but in any case I suspect are probably infertile; and though these plants were large and spectacular to begin with, I'm annoyed to see that after just a few years they're beginning to fail. Luckily the more common varieties are still going strong, even though some of the original plants are nearly a quarter of a century old, and they seem quite happy to wander around the garden, self seeding wherever they find some congenial soil, and occasionally throwing up little surprises like this.