Enjoy hellebores in your home

Make a temporary indoor display with a Christmas rose, Helleborus niger. Varieties include ‘Christmas Carol’ and ‘Christmas Darling’, and can be found on most garden centre displays ready to flower.

Remove the plant from its plastic pot and pop it into a more attractive terracotta or ceramic display pot of a similar size. Water well, then dress the top of the compost with moss from the garden, before placing it on a cool indoor windowsill.

Unlike the tougher, later-flowering hybrids, these hellebores grow best in organic-rich soil, so keep their indoor display quite short, then plant them outdoors in a shaded spot in the garden. Enrich the soil with garden compost and add some lime, as hellebores don’t do well in acid soils.

Make a festive display of snowy white Helleborus niger by planting in an attractive pot and topping with moss