Botanical Hellebore (botanical style)

Hellebores belong to the buttercup family and flower from midwinter into spring. What look like petals are sepals, which is why the flowers last so long and hold their colour as they age; the true petals have shrunk to small nectaries around the stamens. The Christmas rose, Helleborus niger, and the Lenten hellebores are garden favourites, while the stinking hellebore and green hellebore grow wild in parts of Britain. All parts of the plant are poisonous.

They're happiest in part shade, in soil rich in organic matter that doesn't dry out in summer. Plant them in autumn or early spring. With Lenten hellebores, cut off last year's leaves in late autumn or early winter, before the flower stems rise: it shows off the blooms and helps stop leaf spot spreading. Mulch around the clumps afterwards. They flower from January to April and seed themselves about freely, though seedlings won't always match their parents.

A stem of nodding white-green hellebores, with one divided leaf, is drawn on a cream ground. The flowers hang their heads as they do in the garden, so the picture keeps their natural poise. White-green blooms are what you find in winter borders, when there's little else in flower to look at.