Still wet

We've had so much rain in the past couple of days that the patio pond is overflowing, and when I walked down the garden this afternoon in search of a macro image, my feet were sinking down into what we ironically call "the lawn", and water was squelching up over the tops of my shoes. It was also bitterly cold, so the fact that I couldn't find any invertebrates was more disappointing than surprising.

This is one of the first hellebores I planted after we moved here, and it has done very well for me, providing early spring interest in the rose bed each year. It's called Helleborus orientalis 'Smokey Blue', and I've always loved its elegant deep purple bracts. Even though it's a hybrid, it's fertile: I've dug up a number of its seedlings over the years, and replanted them successfully in other parts of the garden.