Spring has finally arrived here in new England. My Lenten roses have jumped out with multiple pink flowers. I planted, last year, in early February and the flowers were all nearly white. I stored the plant in an unheated room with plans to place it in the Spring. I fugured, even a hardy plant like this would not do well if it went directly from the greenhouse to a New England winter all at once.I planted it out in the spring and it did thrive.

I had to place a basket over it before each snow storm (and we got three of them, some more severe than others) But now the flowers are pink. No complaints. I like the color but if you buy Helebore that has been forced into bloom the color may be different when it finally blooms.

Just remember, when buying perennials for your garden the latest trend is to sell them in full bloom. This means forcing the later flowering plants into bloom so that (unkowing) cutomers will see the plants at their best when they are looking for plants early in the season.

What's the old saying? Oh, yeah...'buyer beware.'

These plants won't necessarily bloom at the same time next year. My 'Weekend Gardeners' need to be aware so they aren't dissapointed.