The need for alkaline or even neutral soil is a bit overstated. My soil tests out at a pH of 6.3 - pretty common for this area - and all manner of ericaceous plants thrive. As do hellebores, all species and hybrids. You may want to test your pH in this area just to make sure you haven't overdone with the peat, but I don't think you'll have too much trouble with the hellebores. And don't give them too much shade, either. You will get more upright foliage and heavier flowering if they receive some sun - morning is preferred.

Katrina, I use the chalk, one or two sticks, whole, pushed into the soil near the plant, or if newly planting, under the rootball....that was a tip I picked up at Heronswood one year.

I use it for February daphne and am convinced it helps, also my hellebores and delphiniums. Most of my plants are happy in my naturally acidic soil and I mulch all with compost which would be releasing acidic acids as it continues to decompose. We get enormous amounts of mildly acidic rain here too, today in particular.

The hellebores are thriving and maybe they would be if I didn't try to increase the PH in their immediate area...but for the price of a box of blackboard chalk in the school supply section at my grocery store, there is probably no need for me to find out :)

Sorry, I really should proof read but this wind/rain storm is distracting me. I meant to say my compost releases organic acids as it continues to decompose - Is there even such a thing as acidic acids???

Wow, I am amazed that in Zone 8 the hellebores can handle so much sun. You have just given me an idea of intermixing some in with some creeping phlox I plan on planting next spring. That area does get good morning sun and nice afternoon shade.

Since the Azaleas and hellebores I already planted are in a 6 inch high bed of a high quality Canadian Sphagnum Peat harvested at a renewable level, and mulched with pine bark mulch, I figure the acidic ph level is most likely 5.5 at most and 6.5 at least. With that in mind, the assurance of chalk pieces working well for morz8 seems to be good "just in case" advice for me. In addition, I now am more willing to try using the Chalk pieces around the root balls of my young "Miss Kim" dwarf lilac shrubs and maybe even among the above mentioned creeping phlox.

Thanks for both of your perspectives, advice, and sharing of your experience results.

I've tried it with H. niger, as it seems a bit more tempermental. I've also been using some old calcium pills my wife had left over when she switches to Calcium plus D pills. I havent seen any real differences though versus no added calcium. My soil Ph here is about 5.8-6.3.

George

George is right - of all the hellebore species, H. niger is much more fussy about soil pH.

And the myth about hellebores being shade lovers is tough to dispel. In their native environments, they tend to grow in very open areas like steppes, meadows and woodland verges and generally receive a considerable amount of sun. Some, like H. argutifolius (native to Corsica and Sardinia), are very well adapted to and actually prefer to grow in full sun. They also tend to be rather drought tolerant once established.

Gardengal48 is certainly correct about hellebores liking a bit more light, especially argutifolius. I have argutifolius situated where it gets full morning sun till about noon, and it still is not at its best. I'm placing seedlings in full sun (as full as I have since I am shaded from about 3pm onward by terrain) to hope for a bit better performance.

George

I am learning which parts of my yard are more acidic because hellebores don't want to grow there. I have never heard of the chalk trick ... I use wood ashes (I heat with wood) and that works well for me.

As for sun/shade, I have some hellebores against the north side of the house which grow and bloom well there ... I don't mean to suggest that they only grow in the shade, but they do seem to grow well in shade.

I guess it depends on how acidic one's acidic soil is :-) Pine Knot Farms, one of the leading hybridizers of hellebores, reports that a soil pH of 5.5 to 6.5 is ideal, which is considered to be moderate to lightly acidic. And most other sites will state slightly acidic to neutral conditions, but that is a far cry away from requiring alkaline soil conditions.

I'm not sure how all these "recommended" cautions or practices came about - perhaps by those same folks who insist these plants require shade :-) Experience has shown that it is simply not the absolute truth. But then, there are very few absolutes in gardening.

Here is a link that might be useful: Pine Knot Farms: hellebore care