This is the time to do some routine maintenance in your ornamental shade beds. Winter is prime time for hellebores, and they'll benefit from pruning off old tattered leaves so new growth and their ensuing subtle flowers may be more readily seen. Other plants that should be given a "hair cut" by removing old leaves are asarums, bergenias, epimediums and heucheras.

If you can't reach the plants without stepping into the bed, wait for the ground to dry. Stepping on wet soil compacts it.

This month or next, top-dress your shade bed with an inch or two of compost if you haven't given those plants extra nutrients for a couple of years. Hellebores may reseed, dropping seeds at their base so the clump expands in area. Most people welcome this increase, unless you already have border-to-back hellebores. Then you should deadhead the blossoms before they mature to seed.

Hellebores are difficult for a gardener to grow from seed, requiring three months' rest at 68 degrees after potting, then three months' stratification in the refrigerator before planting out. Germination after all of this may be slow, and it may be a few years before they bloom. If you're young and patient, try growing them from seeds. If not, buy your plants and enjoy them. Let nature do the resting and stratification if they reseed.

COLD-HARDY KALES GROW WELL IN OUR WINTERS

So far this winter, with temperatures dropping to 8 degrees (plants don't suffer wind chill), several garden vegetables are still producing. Stella Schneider, who lives in the North End, has Tuscan kale, improved dwarf Siberian kale, Georgian Green collards, Zen and Swiss chard (Argentata or Fordhook) to harvest from. None are under cover.

One of her favorites is Zen, from Burpee. This is a hybrid listed under "Oriental Greens" in its catalog. Cooks Garden, now owned by Burpee, also is carrying it. It's described as a mildly sweet green that is harvestable just 30 days from sowing, and may be picked the entire season. It resembles collard greens, but is more tender and pungent. It's rich in vitamins A and C.

Her kales are both from Territorial Seed. Improved dwarf Siberian is cold hardy, and grows in a 24" rosette. Nero di Toscana, or Tuscan kale or black palm, is a small tree-like plant, growing to about two feet in height, with knobby blackish leaves growing out from the trunk like palm tree leaves. It's extremely popular in Italian cooking, and recipes using it are numerous online. Kale is unexpectedly nutritious, one leaf providing as much calcium as a glass of milk.

Schneider is from the South (Tennessee) but didn't start growing and cooking collards until after she moved to Boise. She prefers a variety called Georgia Green (also known as Georgia Southern or Creole), for solid fleshy leaves. It's available from several sources, including Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds.

BROWSE GLOBALLY, BUY LOCALLY

Use seed catalogs to determine what varieties you'd like to try, then check for local availability from seed racks. Zamzows carries seeds from three or four suppliers, and Edwards Greenhouse carries seeds from nine or 10 suppliers, I think. Call other locally owned nurseries for seed rack information.

Margaret Lauterbach: melauter@earthlink.net or write to Gardening, The Idaho Statesman, P.O. Box 40, Boise, ID 83707