I really don't know what's going on with my hellebores. The oldest clump is nearly 10 years old, but it doesn't spread. The newer ones are at least 4 years old and they just don't seem to thrive. HOWEVER, and this is a big however, I just now went outside and took a good look at them and it seems to me as if they have lifted a bit out of the ground. So I'm going to lift them and replant them deeper and see if that might not be the problem. I can't tell if the plants were frost heaved (seems unlikely) or if the compost etc. has settled (more likely).
I like the colder weather. It's the heat that I can't handle. Give me days in the 40s-50s anytime. But once the temps get near 80 I'm done for. I think it's genetic. My mom told me that my grandpap (my dad's dad) strung electric lights through his garden so he could work at night during the summer because he couldn't take the heat. And this was up in the Western PA mountains (Johnstown PA), where an extremely hot summer day is like 80 F.
I am going to post this to my journal, but I wanted to share this with you: it's a short time lapse video and it is the most breathtaking thing I've seen in a while. Hope you like it, Annie
https://youtu.be/m6Uw2DJ9Md8