Those are all lovely. I also like "Ice Follies". The only hellebore I have is Ivory Prince and it has been an easy plant to grow with very little care needed. I am trying to start some others from seed. I don't think stating where you bought your plants is advertising. People post all the time about where to buy plants or where they got plants.

it said on the site it was an ongoing thing and they would be adding to it. i'll have to go back and ck now, 'cuase i'll bemad if i wasted time, too, though it was fun looking at ll those hellebores. t

Peter, a shady site being ideal for hellebores is nothing more than received wisdom. Hellebores are shade tolerant, and will grow in quite heavy shade, but will grow with much more vigour and produace more flowers if grown in full sun, especially in the UK. I have seen many hellebore species in the wild across the Balkans, and I can say that without exception, the plants with the most flowers on them are in full sun. There are some colonies where plants are growing in open meadows, which runs into light deciduous woodland, and then into dense woodland which creates deep shade. Plants in the open meadows have many flowers, plants in the light woodland have fewer, and plants in the deep shade often have no flowers at all - just lots of foliage. I have several hundred hellebores here (hybrids & species), and they are all in full sun, in a south facing position. Also esthomizzy, hardy geraniums will make a very nice planting partner for your hellebores. There are several places in the Balkans where hellebores and Geranium phaeum grow alongside one another - very nice to see.

If you are a college student, try to get to Queenstown on the South Island. It is pretty much the adventure activity capital of the place. Lots of stuff for people of any age to do, but a very exciting place full of twenty-somethings. Nice public garden there, too, with a good collection of rampling roses on the fence. Also if you are an experienced backpacker you might want to consider tramping the Milford Sound. They have good accomodations for the self-guided hikers, and that is much less expensive than the guided tours. This is probably the chance of a lifetime. I envy you getting to see NZ at this point in your life. I found it to be amazingly beautiful, a landscape that will fill your memory for years to come. NZ is very fussy about species in, species out, so you probably won't be able to take any plant material out with you and you definitely will not be able to bring any in. If your hiking boots aren't clean enough to meet their standards they will sterilize them for you, honest. They are not kidding about this. They have had serious problems with invasive exotic species, both plant and animal. Paula