Hepatica

Hepaticas, known as Hepatica in Latin, are small perennial plants. Under the name of Hepatica nobilis, the most common variety, they offer charming star-shaped flowers in an incomparable blue colour, as well as pure white, pink, or purple, set against a curious trilobed foliage, early in the year, as soon as the end of winter. Behind their precious appearance hides a robust and hardy plant, native to almost all mountain ranges in Europe. The leaves of Hepatica, thick and leathery, persist more or less throughout winter, their base colour being dark green, sometimes marbled with white or silver, while their undersides take on a wine-like hue over the months. Their flowers, with 5 sepals, are beautifully enhanced by about twenty white stamens gathered in a diadem, and they shine remarkably in shaded areas. Hepatica is an adorable but stubborn small perennial plant: it frequently self-sows wherever it pleases, far from the location you had apparently reserved for it by mistake.

Adopt Hepatica in your half-shaded borders and rockeries, under the cover of deciduous trees and bushes that will provide shade for it in summer, either in the foreground or at a higher level for closer admiration. It pairs well with small spring bulbs with early flowering, such as winter Aconites, botanical crocuses, snowdrops, as well as Hellebores and Heucheras.