Spring weather at last

For the first time this year it actually feels like Spring, blue skies, sunshine and a balmy 54 degrees.  The snow is beginning to melt, exposing broken branches, and the first signs of spring flowers.  The snowdrops are blooming and underneath the ratty leaves of the hellebores buds are beginning to appear.

The hellebores tired browning leaves have served their purpose and can be cut back.  In past years I've cut a third back in November, leaving some leaves to provide nutrients to the plant, then pruned back again in January.  This year I did get around to pruning off some of the leaves on a warmish day in January but actually regret it as those hellebores were battered by the snowstorms that followed.  The old leaves protected the new tender foliage and unfurling buds of the plants I didn't get around to pruning and they survived in much better shape.

It is important now to go around with at pair of sharp felcos or pruners and remove the old foliage or the plants look hideous during their peak bloom months.