Hell to the YES for Hellebores :)

To say that I LOVE Hellebores would be an understatement.  These flowers are stunners.  To be honest, I think part of my reason for loving them so much is that I was told I couldn't grow them.  I love those sorts of challenges :) Because I'm so crazy for them I have tried them in many different places in my yard.  I was surprised that they seemed to prefer a lot more sun than I would have guessed from the research I'd done.  In my yard their sweet spot is in the shade of rose bushes or other East facing beds that have sun in the morning and afternoon shade.  These guys take either patience of money (and honestly a bit of both).  If you can swing it, buy the biggest plants you can find.  (If that's not a problem for you, you should hire me to consult for your flower garden!😉)  Hellebores are slow growers and take a couple years of growing  before they start producing an abundance of stems.  They are drought tolerant but not very heat tolerant.  Avoid overwatering and make sure they have shade in the summer.  If you grow hellebores you may be tempted to cut the flowers for arrangements.  There are lots of complicated processes I've seen for getting them to last when they are young and at their (imho) most beautiful.  What I do instead is enjoy them in the garden that way and wait until they have dropped their stamens and other reproductive bits (like the flower above) and then they last for weeks.  The dark colors will retain their color when they dry.  Hellebores have a long history (like many in their family, the Ranunculaceae) as medicine/poison so don't eat them!  They are the first to blooms of the new year and they are well worth adding to your garden.