Would you even see the foliage or stems in winter? Usually in our winter, with all our snow, there isn't much to be seen. Even if a plant is evergreen it is buried until the snow starts to melt in spring. I don't know of any other 'winter stems' besides dogwood or other trees and shrubs. I do know of a couple foliage plants that might compliment your Hellebore though. Carex (sedge) is evergreen or semi-evergreen and might work for you. My 'Ice Dance' does VERY well in dry shady sites. It spreads, but is fairly easy to get rid of any spreading chunks you don't want. Bergenia is another nice evergreen foliage plant. Round-ish leaves that can have a nice burgundy/wine tinge in the cold months. One cultivar, 'Bressingham Ruby', is supposed to have exceptionally nice colored foliage. CMK

I would put them in the coolest room in your house out of bright south sun. They might do OK in a garage, but the plants don't want to be shut off from light for months on end (welcome to Michigan winters, ugh....). If the plants are actively in leaf they really don't want to be in the dark for months -- especially if it is warm enough for them to break bud and start to produce new leaves. Don't let them get bone dry but you dont want to overwater either -- hellebores are somewhat prone to crown and foliage fungal problems and I have probably killed more potted plants by over than underwatering. Let the soil dry some between waterings.

Sheryl which hardware store In Barrie, you mean Will have a look myself Have been looking for bargains but not finding anything to much

I have held seeds as long as 120 days myself. They germinate just fine. It is said that the minimum length of time they need to be held warm and moist is 8 weeks. You wouldn't need to hold the seed yourself for 8 weeks as long as you tell the recipient when you put then into warm moist stratification and that they need to let them stay in the baggies at least 8 weeks before starting the cold moist stratification period. The easiest way to do that is to write the date of sewing on the baggie with permanent marker. Just as an aside, it isn't cold enough in my area to start the cold moist stratification period outside after 60 or even 120 days so I put the baggies of seed in the back of the refrigerator until they germinate - yes they will germinate right in the bag in the dark - then I pot them up and put them under lights until time to put the seedlings outside. It works great. It's good of you to offer seed. I'll be checking to see if I can use any. I love Hellebores.