Brighten up the winter, early-spring garden by adding some of the incredible new varieties of hellebores that are becoming available at your local nursery. A prolific bloomer guaranteed to cheer up a shady corner is Helleborus 'Rosemary.' One of the first hellebores to bloom, before you know it, this beauty is totally covered with large outfacing, rosy pink flowers.

New this year, H. 'Merlin' is spectacular. The deep green, silver-veined leaves and plum-colored stems are attractive in their own right, but the stars of the show are the upturned long blooming flowers that emerge pink before slowly aging to dark burgundy. This plant is in short supply and is expected to sell out early, so don't hesitate if you spot it.

Finally, if you are as enamored by double hellebores as I am, you won't be able to resist H orientalis 'Onyx Odyssey.' The blossoms are blackish purple with undertones of red and contain bright yellow stamens. Although the flowers are down-turned, they glow like tiffany lamps when illuminated by sunlight.

Hardy to -30 degrees, hellebores are happiest growing in morning sun in moist well-fertilized soil. Planted in the middle of the garden these harbingers of spring disappear into the background, so locate them close to a walkway where they can show off their showy early-season flowers.

Shear lavender to prevent bare stems

Finish your baguette, don your beret and grab your shears: It's time to cut back your lavender. Lavenders need to be sheared back hard every spring to help prevent the plants from forming woody, bare branches at the base. Nothing will stop the lower leaves from dropping, but shearing hard, to within a half-inch of the bare stems, will significantly slow the process, especially if you start when the plant is young.

If the stems on your lavenders are already bare and unsightly, as a last-ditch effort you can cut back a few of the oldest branches to a couple of inches tall. Then if new growth appears at the base, cut the rest of the stems back the same way.

These drastic measures may work or may not work. If the results are less than desirable, put on some Edith Piaf records and "mange" a pain chocolat while you peruse garden catalogs for a suitable replacement.

Start your

veggie garden

As long as conditions are dry, late February is a great time to prepare your vegetables for spring planting. One way you can improve the tilth of your soil is by forking compost into the soil.

Incorporating compost will help aggregate the soil, improve drainage and add nutrient and moisture-holding capacity. Best of all, it will add billions of microorganisms that will help keep harmful pathogens in check, and will enliven the underground food chain, which increases nutrient availability for your plants.

Turning compost in with a digging fork also makes it much easier to weed your veggie garden.

Remember to wait to work the garden until the soil is about the moisture of a squeezed sponge, as turning over wet soil can ruin drainage.

Also, don't overdo the compost. The goal is to make about a third of the soil organic, which can be achieved by working a 4 inch layer of compost 12 inches deep in the soil.

Adding more than the prescribed amount can make the soil hold too much moisture, which could cause root rot and other problems. I admit that forking in all of this compost is a bit of work, but think of how tasty those Brussels sprouts will be!

Ciscoe Morris: ciscoe@ciscoe.com; "Gardening with Ciscoe" airs at 10 a.m. Saturdays on KING-TV