Why hellebores inspire a mad passion in gardeners Hellebores have always fascinated Juliet Davies In the early years her garden - and the thrill of growing roses, annual geraniums and pelargoniums - was a respite from bringing up a young family of four girls. But while her husband Martin mowed the lawns, soon she was growing perennials for a local plant sale and running a small nursery. "I then decided to concentrate on hellebores, which was a plant that only a few people grew," she says. When she moved in to the property, the garden had just one hellebore, but it had always fascinated her. Her collection began when her mother gave her a plant - a white with red spots. That was all it took - this is how it is with hellebores. At night Juliet absorbed a wealth of information from gardening books and was pleased to learn that hellebores enjoyed her garden's free-draining soil and some shade during the day. "What plant can give you months of colour at a time?" she asks, rhetorically. In search of specialist growers, she would travel great distances to find new plants until, in 2003, she began to crossbreed unnamed hybrids from the gene pool she was nurturing. Through patient experimentation she became quietly confident at growing and hybridising these plants and is now, although too self-effacing to admit it, among the hellebore cognoscenti. It takes at least three years to see new plants in flower so endless patience is a virtue. "I now grow a range of singles, doubles and anemone types in a wide range of colours, from whites, yellows, pinks, peaches, purples and blue-blacks with various degrees of spotting and stripes," she says. But how she creates these hybrids looks and sounds unfeasibly tricky. First she must select the best parent plants. Vigour and shape comes mainly from the female - the plant that receives the pollen - while the colour comes from the male. In February I take a strong-looking female plant grown in a pot with an unopened flower and place it in the greenhouse. I then pull back its petals to expose the stigmas," she explains. Next I collect pollen from the anthers of a male with some precision-guided tweezers, which is a bit fiddly. I dust the pollen on the sticky end of the stigmas, close the petals, mark the flower with a piece of wool and record it in a notebook. By the end of May the seed pods have swollen and, as they dry, they burst to discard the ripe seed, which Juliet swiftly gathers up. The seed is then sown fresh into individual pots in a loam compost and covered in a layer of grit. Pots remain outdoors in a cool shady place until December, when they return to the greenhouse. In March, the emerging seedlings are potted on into 9in pots for six months before being bedded out and grown on in nursery beds for two years. In the autumn, before they flower in their third year, she digs them up and pots them up for sale in February. Juliet first opened the garden and began selling her beautiful cultivars five years ago. She also takes striking photographs of all her plants, which she sells to visitors as greetings cards. Last year, she had around 500 visitors, spread between three public open days and private openings for local garden societies. "I have plants for sale each year but demand always exceeds supply," she says. So in the early 21st century, hellebores are hot, I suggest. "Hmm... maybe," she laughs. Garden-lovers always want something new to do in winter. Most gardens don't open until late spring so those with hellebores can get a head-start. I just know people love coming here - it's their first garden outing of the year. Happily Juliet enjoys showing everyone around. I love making things grow - and now I share it with new friends I've made from Kent to Aberdeenshire who all grow my plants. That's the real thrill," she says. The strangely gripping hellebore, which is outstanding in even the smallest of gardens, does seem addictive. "Once you start collecting, one becomes two... then when do you stop?" sighs Juliet. Expert tips for hellebores To enjoy the flowers at a convenient height, pick some with a short stem and float them in a bowl of water. They last for up to five days. Immediately after cutting, place the bottom 1in of the stem into boiling water for about 20 seconds. Arrange the stems into deep, tepid water and they should stay fresh for up to four days. Feed plants with blood, fish and bone twice a year and with homemade compost. Remove all old leaves by early January to prevent black spot spores transmitting to new foliage. If you spray your roses, give the hellebores a dose to sort out greenfly and black spot at the same time. In pictures: heavenly hellebores from the garden of Juliet Davis The garden at Kapunda, Southstoke, Bath, is open Sunday, March 10 for Dorothy House Hospice, 2pm-4pm and Saturday, March 23, 2pm-4pm. Entry is by donation to charity. Also open by appointment to garden societies and clubs. Buy six mixed hellebores for £16.99, saving £13 off the RRP of £29.99, at the Telegraph Garden Shop. Add £4.99 p&p.