Norway Maple will kill almost anything around. Too shallow and too dense roots. I have Epimediums and rhizomatous geranium under my Amur Maple which is much less agressive than Norway. Even these tough and dry shade tolerant plants are shy there. I would not risk planting Hellebores within a drip line of a Norway Maple.

Hey Prairiegirl,

Why not give it a try? I have hellebores naturalizing ON the roots of my trees! Start with seedlings and they will grow anywhere. Send me your address and I'll send you a box of babies to get you started.

Laura

Laura~You are too kind. Thanks again for the offer.

alina~Maybe I should be looking for a rhizomatous geranium instead. I don't need aggressive growers, just a spot or two of color by the path.

You can try with the seedlings of course, but be careful with expensive mature plants - you can loose them easily...
I had a horrible experience with Maples. Norway and Sugar are especially bad. For this reason, we removed an old Norway from our backyard - it covered 1/3 of the yard. Even grass and weeds did not grow under it. Our Amur maple is a little easier. I am trying to plant Lamium 'Purple Dragon' under it in addition to Epimediums and Geranium. I keep a back up Lamium in another place though ;)

I have to live with the Norway for now, it is next to our raised deck, and there is a lower deck over most of the roots, accessible by stairs. This grouping I'm working on is between the lower deck and the north-facing fence, and then that bed narrows into a long border to the west, along the fenced-in yard. The shrubs act as a screen, so that one side of the rectangular yard is more secluded from the busier side to the east.

alina~I have a couple smaller lamium to try before I move my big, pretty specimen, though it is pretty tough. I have not tried the epimedium yet.