Breaking winter's silence with welcome colour, this botanical rebel emerges when most plants hibernate, producing rich purple-pink blooms that dance just above frozen ground.

Helleborus purpurascens transforms shadowy garden corners with its distinctive hairy leaves and provocative flowering period, beginning as early as mid-January and persisting through March with flowers opening incrementally along stems that stretch to 30cm (12in).

Perfectly adapted to partial shade and woodland edges, this compact deciduous perennial offers exceptional ground cover while remaining resolutely unbothered by deer and rabbits.