Thanks for that input. In the meantime, I have found a hellebore that I think will be pretty - pink beauty ericsmithii. I understand that it's a salmon pink flower, not too colorful, but I think it will look pretty. It's also sterile, so I hope I won't have to do much weeding of seedlings down the road.

Thanks again..

Over a decade late here, but any chance you (George @geoforce) could give the names of some of those species of hellebores you mention that mature to less than 12"? I'm trying to find a lower stature green. Somehow my searches keep sending me back to much larger plants or white. Thanks

Other than H. niger, I don't know of any hellebore species that remains lower than 12". In fact, 12-24" is pretty standard for most and with many heading towards the upper end of that range. And a few quite a bit more than that! Also, unless you are ordering from a hellebore specialty nursery, most of which are not located in the US, not that many species are available here or necessarily hardy for large parts of the country. Most hellebore vendors here in the US tend to focus on the hybrids, especially the brightly colored xhybridus forms, as that's what gardeners want :-) But there are a few exceptions.

All of the green flowered hellebore species I am aware of that can be found readily are larger growing plants....2-3 footers.

newbie

H. dumetorum is a small green-flowered plant, but finding one is quite hard. I have one plant which is supposedly it which I bought many years ago and which matches the description so it might be correct. Flowers are small though, about 2" or a bit more but a fair green. Some plants of H. odorus are smaller and might stay under a foot. They have various shades of green.

THANK YOU!!