Hellebore in March.

The saying goes “March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb” but the first few days of March were quite wonderful for us!  We’ve had mild days, with more sun than we’ve seen all of January & February combined.  The nights are still cold, but the evenings are ever brighter.  With the nicer weather, the Hellebore plants really started to come to life with lots of blooms.  The flower faces down to the ground, so I was happy to get the above picture, even if it meant that I was nearly on the ground myself!

Hellebore.

They are a lovely flower to have in the garden since it blooms during that time when there really isn’t too much going on.  There are many different varieties, too.  I’m told that the flowers of the new varieties don’t face down, but face up!

Hellebore.

I’m happy with my pink variety.  It seems happy with me, too, as it was big enough for me to divide last year, and now I have two plants.

Hellebore on a sunny day.

There are some other signs of life in the garden, too.  My Clematis “Bagatella” Dorothy Walton  (photo taken in August 2012)

won’t bloom until August, but it has a bunch of new shoots.  I had been looking at getting something pretty for it to climb.  There were some lovely obelisk structures in one of my gardening magazines, but they were quite pricey.  So I was delighted to find something very similar in TK Maxx (TJ Maxx in the U.S.) at a very reasonable price!

My bargain obelisk.

Clematis ‘Bagatella’ (Dorothy Walton).

Pleased as punch, so I was! I think it is just lovely, and fits the bill perfectly!  Now I can’t wait for the Clematis to bloom.  The Clematis has a story of its own.  It is one of the first plants that I bought when we moved into this house.  My neighbor from the States (that’s you Sally L.!) had the most beautiful Clematis in her yard.  So it was with thoughts of Sally’s plant that I made my purchase.  The problem was that I didn’t know where to put it, so I just stuck it by the fence.  My thinking was that it would climb the fence and be lovely.  Except it nearly died there.  It was terribly unhappy.  So I moved it and it limped along.  Although it did have one lovely flower last year, it  then seemed to have “wilt” from too much rain.  We dug it up, gave it lots of compost, aerated the soil, added some food and hoped for the best.  It seems the best is coming, as it really has taken off with lots of healthy shoots.  I am hopeful!

Now on to an unrelated topic.  I had to share this with you:  A chocolate pudding recipe that uses avocado!  I tried it just out of curiosity; that and the fact that I happened to have an avocado on hand when I came across the recipe.   It really tasted good!

Chocolate Avocado Pudding from Joyous Health.

You could definitely taste the avocado.  It is rather strange, and my kids were divided.  I liked it, and would consider this for a healthy snack.

Chocolate Avocado Pudding from Joyous Health.

What do you think??? Would you give it a try?

Happy & Healthy Gardening to you!

Dana

http://889yoga.com/blog/uncategorized/chocolate-avocado-pudding-recipe/

Chocolate Avocado Pudding recipe from Joyous Health

• 1 ripe avocado, peel and seed removed
• 1/3 cup raw cacao (Use the best quality you can find. I used Navitas — it has a beautiful rich aroma and taste)
• 1/4 cup raw honey (I used local buckwheat Nude Bee honey)

Place all ingredients into a food processor or high power blend and blend until nice and smooth. If you want a thinner consistency, add 2-3 tbsp of almond milk. Sprinkle some raw cacao nibs on top! Blend and enjoy! Serves 2 generously. EnJOY!