Most varieties are in full bloom right now in our Zone 7. "Sternii" seems to be the last one but even it is unfurling it's petals. Depending on the variety, a first year hellebores may not bloom, however. You might need to wait till next year, or even the year after.

Companion plants to hosta???? duh! more hosta!! LOL! Huechera works as does alchimillia, thalactrum, and Solomon seal and astilbe. Linda C

Surprise lilies? I'll have to look that up. Yes, I can see that the pink blooms would be great with white and lavender shades of flowers from the hosta. What I have are simply day lilies and red amaryllis. I haven't gone into other lilies--yet. This year I grew some seedling amaryllis, they will be going in the ground next year. Plus the handful of seeds like thin coins collected from the bumper crop of amaryllis blooms earlier this summer, I think I'll just sow them in the blueberry patch. It gets a lot of sun, takes up space all year that requires maintenance without contributing to the beauty of the garden. Why not some amaryllis and maybe daylilies too? They do not really die down here, and I won't be stepping on dormant bulbs. And I'll check out surprise lilies. No tulips though. Anything requiring dormancy is not suitable...except for hosta. Here is a shot of the first round of amaryllis getting all day sunshine on western side of my house, out in the open.

Posted by Lauren Z4 - 4: I'm looking for a good source for native northern ground covers for my shade garden. I'm particularly interested in bunchberry (cornus canadensis?) and asarum canadensis - wild ginger. I also have bleeding hearts, bloodroot, bellwort, purple foliage violets, monkshood, etc. in the area.The canopy is oak and some airy pine. I moved in some trillium this fall along with some hepatica, birdfoot violet, and solomon's seal. Would bunchberry or ginger overwhelm? Would they be better off on a completely shaded sloped north side of house? Thanks! Lauren Follow-Up Postings: Alta 56N zone2: Bunchberry are native where I live. They seem to grow best in partial shade, acidic like yours should be with those trees, cool and moist but on higher ground. Will they overwhelm? I certainly don't think so. Here they grow in company with twinflowers (linnaea), and wintergreen. One does not overtake the other. Frances Boninti: Yes wild ginger will take over. I'm overwhelmed with it and once it invades the space of another plant it wins. I lost trillium to it. be careful. Dot - 7-OR: Cornus canadensis is compatible with all plants mentioned and in the Pacific Northwest grow extremely well together. I have also found them growing in open sunlight under summer drought condition in logged over ground. sheri zn 5 MI: I just saw a show that suggested a great companion plant for hosta and guess what it was? Yep, and it looked great he said it was a "well behaved" plant.