Snowdrops and Hellebores

Published on by Catherine

Six on Saturday

When Storm Jocelyn eased off mid-week I was quick to get into the garden to pull two of my garden chairs out of the shrubs (again) and try to capture a few photographs of snowdrops. The winds had eased, but they were still strong and blustery. I almost gave up. However, the forecast stated with great authority that the rain was only taking a few hours off, and we’d still have blustery, wet conditions for quite some time. It seemed like one of those now-or-never moments.

Snowdrops. I took multiple shots of this little clump of snowdrops in the garden, but not too many of them were successful enough to use. Light was at a premium, and achieving a fast enough shutter speed for wind conditions was difficult. Single result below.

Snowdrops in the garden

Hellebores. The Hellebores are a little bit more robust than the snowdrops and I managed to get a few shots before having to flee indoors.

Hellebore and bud
Hellebore ‘Molly’s White’
Hellebore detail

Snowdrops again. I was in our local DIY store this week and noticed they had 1 litre pots of snowdrops, some about to bloom. I bought a few pots to plant into the Hellebore bed, something I’ve been meaning to do for quite some time. The weather being as it is right now meant I couldn’t get them planted. Instead, I tucked them up outdoors in a spot where they were less likely to blow away. By Friday afternoon I realised they weren’t going to be planted for a while so I took them inside, placed them on a table with a black slate behind and took a few photographs. The warmth in the room opened the petals fairly quickly. I took a few shots and then returned them to the wild outdoors. These are the indoor shots.

Snowdrop, posing indoors
Snowdrop, spreading its wings

That’s my ‘Six for Saturday’ this week, but why not take a look at our host’s blog. Jim’s Garden Ruminations is the place to go to meet other gardeners and see what they have in their gardens this weekend.

Wherever you are, hopefully, you’ll have some decent weather to continue preparing your garden for spring. If you’re in the southern hemisphere, I hope the weather’s not too hot for you. Have a lovely weekend!

Catherine 😊

22 thoughts on “Snowdrops and Hellebores”

    1. Thank you, Fred. I have a new lens on the camera – just getting some practice with it. I’ll be posting about it at some point next week in a new ‘Photography’ category.

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    1. Thanks Helen, they’re far from perfect. I have a new lens on my camera and I’m still practicing with it 😁. I’ll add a post at some point next week in a new ‘Photography’ category.

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    1. Thanks, Graeme. There’s a new lens on the camera and I’m still trying to get to grips with it – and back focus! The wind is a destroyer of photographs that’s for sure. The forecast for our area over the next 10 days isn’t particularly encouraging – I hope it calms down where you are.

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  7. You got some great shots. I attempted to photograph my hellebores yesterday with dismal results. Mine tend to hang their heads so capturing the detail is difficult and I really should use my camera and not the phone!

    BTW Your comment box still insists on me logging in to WP even though I already am!

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    1. My Hellebores are the same. Try making a little tripod with fine sticks, cut length as needed (the type that comes with indoor plants such as orchids. Use thin garden wire to wrap three sticks together but leaving enough of an opening on top to lift the stem up. If there are enough leaves they should disguise the sticks and you’ll get a photo. Sorry, it’s tough to describe, but if you think of a tiny tepee perhaps that’ll make sense.

      I’m having to log in to my own WP account even to answer comments on here, Jude. Sometimes it takes several attempts. But I’m also having to do the same with other people’s sites, including yours. It’s very frustrating.

      I’ve googled the problem – which goes back many years – and other WP users are equally frustrated trying to find the answer.

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  8. A beautiful photo of the hellebore innards Catherine – it picks up on so much intricate detail. Snowdrops are notoriously difficult to photograph. I like your idea of using black slate. I’ve used black card behind them in the past sometimes to good results.

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    1. Thanks, Anna. I did say ‘slate’ but it’s actually a chalkboard, and I think that’s wood painted with chalkboard paint. Any piece of black wood or fabric (or as you said), card, would work as long as it’s matt. I picked up the nearest black I could find. 😁 I also used a reflector on the shadow side.

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  9. Thank you for such wonderful pictures, a real treat to look so closely into the centre of the hellebore, just sitting here at my desk!

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  10. Beautiful hellebore photos and seeing the snowdrops up close like that without having your nose to the ground is very nice too – good idea to bring them indoors for the photos!

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