It's a Hellebore,Hank,and a very pretty one at that..definiteley one to keep,as it will come up every year..

definitely a keeper. as said it is a Hellebore orientalis hybrid. It must have been there last year as it is a substantially sized plant. Have you got my disease Hank? buying plants and then forgetting about them :o))

The leaves should be evergreen - do you remember removing them?

If you don't want it Hank there will be a queue - its a beauty.

Thanks guys, for the rapid reply, but no, S.G. I've never bought flower seeds in my life until I bought malope trifida the other day on someone's advice. And I've never seen this before, let alone moved it.
Now the questions are - can I transplant it ? And if so - when ? And I can I get seeds from it ? And how high does it grow ? I haven't a clue.

This won't have grown from seed... You can transplant probably best left until September time. You 'can' get seeds but the resulting plants will not necessarily look anything like the parent. As to how big it will get some Orientalis hybrids get quite large others don't...

Thanks MG, I've just read about hellebores and am told I can divide this into " several pieces OF REASONABLE SIZE " in September as you said.
I look forward to doing this but what on earth is a " reasonable size ?"
There appear to be about 20 stems in about 8 inches diameter base. Will this make 4 pieces for example ? And can a complete amateur do this without ruining it altogether ?

Well you could but the new plants may not flower for a while as they don't much like disturbing. Its such a beauty I'd just leave it as it is and enjoy it.
When its finished flowering it should start to grow lots of leaves, so you should try to remember what it is and not pull it up by mistake! It might be a good idea to stick a little label by it.

Dividing is possible, as said, but it does stop them flowering for a while. Best done in September, again as said, I usually make sure there are at least three 'noses' to each division. The roots should not be allowed to dry out while you are dividing the plant, they hate that. Also, the roots are extremely tough to separate.

a plant this size will be 4-8yrs old so it is a mystery as to how it got there. Are you a recent new occupier in your home? It looks as if it is in a retaining wall/border planter.

Is it possibly something your wife planted? It looks a lovely example.
Is that a tulip sprouting to the left of it?
Looks a nice little border to fill with colour that you can enjoy from indoors.

You are not going to believe this, my son tells me it has been there for over 7 years, and that my daughter has admired it all this time but I've never even noticed it until this year ! So it must have been my wife who set it as she was always into flowers.
It shows how much interest I've had. And only now - this year -that I got interested on the front have I spotted the thing.
The strange thing is that it's opposite to, and about 4 feet away from where I set an 8 ft row of comfrey about 3 years ago in another narrow bed.
But it is really in quite the wrong place so in September or whenever dare I move it in one piece ?

Yes, big as lump of soil as possible and water it well before and after.

Thanks O.B. Made my day.

What's wrong about where it is, Hank? It seems to be thriving so, in that respect, it is in the right place. It does look a little lonely though but some more flowers in that little bed would cure that. Or are you going to dig it up for more space to grow veg?

It's round the side of the bungalow, right next to the water tank and close to the boundary fence where no- one can see it.
Shouldn't it be on the front as it's the best thing we have just now ?.
And guess what's on Gardener's world tonight -HELLEBORES ! What timing, although I have all the info already but you never know.

They tolerate some shade Hank, so if you have a semi shaded position it would be happy there - this may be why your wife chose that particular spot for it. Once this lot of flowers have finished there will be nothing but leaves for the rest of the year, so the front might not be the best place unless you're happy about that.

It's staying where it is then and I'll give it a bit of respect henceforth. And by the way, Gardener's World and their hellebores were no use to me at all - except from admiring the varieties.

You could always collect the seed and sow it fresh to try some else where in your garden.

At what time of the year would I collect the seed O.B ?

Well if your hellebore is anything like ours it will self seed all over the place. Just look for baby plants in the spring and remember not to weed them out.

Mine don't self seed unfortunately, except the foetidus.
Why not buy another couple Hank, to keep your pink one company? They will have lots of big green leaves all summer which will be just right in that spot.

Are they Orientalis hybrids Stera... those tend not to

Sounds a good idea Sue, could you suggest one ?

Just saw the next comment from M.G. , perhaps they
don 't self seed. I'm told it's an orientalis hybrid.

I guess so MG but don't know how to tell the difference.
After corsicus, niger and foetidus they are all just hellebores to me as I've not been into them very long.

Hank I should just go to the garden centre and choose one or two you like, as different ones appeal to different people. I am in love with double white ones just now and also the pale lemon. And there was a gorgeous double pink one on a recent blog but I don't know its name.

Orientalis hybrids 'may' produce seed but the chances of the plant looking the same as the parent are slim to none existent - because it is a hybrid.

Thanks Sue, will go and see what's available. And my tryfida things are coming up now as are a lot of the seeds I've set.
My rockery too is looking good - comments from passers by are encouraging. Problem is - I'm going to look at a smaller house today !

Weren't you planning to move to Spain???