Hellebores in Southern California

Corsican hellebore (Helleborus argutifolius) in a Pasadena garden. Author’s photographs
How did gardeners in Southern California ever get along without hellebores? These plant treasures only began showing up in Southern California nurseries and gardens sometime in the early 1990s. I saw my first plant, a dark red beauty, early one spring some ten years ago when I was visiting Filioli, the estate on the San Francisco Peninsula. Recognizing it from photographs in nursery catalogs, I longed to grow that beautiful perennial. I had not seen hellebores for sale in area nurseries nor planted in local gardens, so I assumed they would not thrive in our warmer climate.
Eventually, I spotted clumps of Corsican hellebore (Helleborus argutifolius) in Jack Thompson’s garden in nearby Sierra Madre. Jack was a generous and adventurous gardener who had ordered his plant from a catalog. Encouraged by my enthusiasm, he dug a sizable piece of it for me to take home. The fact that he had been successful gave me hope that I might succeed with it in my own garden.

I planted that division under a Brazilian pepper tree (Schinus te...