Hellebores grow best in in moist but well-drained soil enriched with copious amounts of organic matter. Helleborus orientalis (which includes Helleborus hybridus) prefers a soil pH that is close to neutral; add lime if your soil is extremely acid. Plants are evergreen; if leaves are battered by winter, cut back in spring before new growth emerges (but take care not to remove the stems of H. foetidus, which are produced in the previous growing season). H. niger may be slow to become established; it seems to respond to an extra dose of magnesium in the form of Epsom salts or dolomitic limestone sprinkled around the plants.