Hellebores are hardy, reliable and give early colour to your garden.

How lucky we are to have Broadview Gardens, with its National Collection of Hellebores, on our doorstep.

Often called Christmas Rose or Lenten Rose, hellebores wake up in the New Year, flowering in early January and through to March.

These understated plants are guaranteed to light up a damp, shady spot in your garden and they are exceptionally hardy; most will survive Kent’s coldest and wettest winters year- on-year.

At Broadview Gardens, Hadlow College, near Tonbridge, visitors can see variety of hellebores and will be inspired to grow them in their own gardens.

Guided tours of the National Collection are available on specific weekends throughout February and March.

This year the Horticultural Trades Association has named the hellebore as its Plant of the Month for January and rightly so.

With a subtle colour range of white through to deep purple, pink, cream, yellow and red flowers there are about 20 species of these herbaceous, evergreen, perennial flowering plants.

The most popular hellebores for garden use are Helleborus orientalis and its colourful Helleborus hybridus.

The plants are often tolerant of dry shade conditions, too, and look fantastic planted in borders with snowdrops, erythronium, primula, pulmonaria and tiarella. It helps to plant them in heavy, rich soil that won’t dry out too much in summer months.

Better of all, they are wildlife friendly and a valuable source of pollen for early bees.

For information see www.broadviewgardens.co.uk/national-collection-of-hellebores.aspx www.the-hta.org.uk/plantofthemonth