Moorcroft Pottery Perfect Harmony 35/7

Always a welcome splash of colour to mark the warmer part of winter, hellebores come in more than twenty different sub species with flowers ranging from white and cream to dark maroon edging towards black. The variety chosen by Nicola Slaney is Helleborus niger, which takes its name from its black roots, while the flower itself is white – a juxta positioning of colours in perfect harmony. Development has been relatively recent with much of it happening at Ashwood Nurseries themselves. Although a dull, dark green in summer, it is in winter that hellebores thrive and give to our gardens that sensation of warmth that colour always delivers to cold parts of the year. Nicola’s hellebores grow up from ground level and wind themselves gently around the vase before bursting into full bloom just below the shoulder of the vase.