Hellebores

Many gardeners first fall in love with these lavish blooms and extravagant foliage in wintertime, when little else grows with such abandon. Then the affair continues with the discovery of the full range of delightful year-round perennials, including the new strains coming out each year, some for shade, others for sun. Start your romance with the snow-white purity of the Christmas rose, then expand to the variegated Lenten rose, before trying your own year-round hybrids.