What to plant with hellebores?

[Pannacotta]

I have some nice hellebores under the birch in the garden but they dont look great over the summer/autumn.
What can I plant with them to give some summer colour, but which will do ok in the dry soil under the Birch?

The border is fairly sunny as the birch let plenty of light through.

Any thoughts?

Dry shade is an absolute bugger. Spring colour is do - able but summer colour - aargh! Pale colours are luminous in shade. I love white foxgloves and they would work for early summer. Aquilegia? Obviously geraniums. Autumn flowering crocuses and cyclamen?

Thanks Porridge, I do have a few Foxgloves and could put some more in they do well here, and yes Geraniums and Aquilegia would work, any geraniums you'd recommend in particular? I know ROzanne is popular but am not that keen on the colour, not sure why.
Do you think Hesperis would work?

Its not that shady really, the birch have a very light canopy but it is a bit dry and will get more so as the trees grow.
But I am going to mulch the border very soon so this should help.

What about some Ladies Mantle (Alchemilla). It is so delicate looking and the leaves retain blobs of moisture which may help the hellebores.

I have a birch tree which casts little shade so the site is pretty sunny but does dry out the soil underneath a lot. I have a couple of hellebores that do well but also have hemerocallis, a hebe, sedum and verbascum which provide colour during the summer. I've also got allium spherocaephalon and half a dozen lily bulbs. In between in any gaps I pop some annuals like cosmos which seem to flower just about anywhere!

I'm currently imagining a dramatic carpet of hellebores under the birch, flowers in winter and foliage in summer. Is this how it is?

If so, I think you should simply go for tall spikes of foxgloves / other spiky things coming through the rounded mounds of hellebore foliage.

I'd go for something very simple and minimalistic.

Yes its all Hellebores at the moment in pinks/plums, backed by dark green Holly.
There are a few foxgloves just behind the Hellebores and thats it, though there are Geranium phaeum on one side and a Cornus alternifolia on the other.

I could put in alliums (I like the ones you mention ShellingPeas) and foxgloves to give a longer flowering period, or do you think it would look better with foxgloves only?

I did buy some pink perennial types last week but I much prefer the plain white biennials...

I think alliums and foxgloves, for the longer flowering period. And I agree on the plain white perennials. I can imagine that with the birch and the hellebore foliage, that might look stunning.

I think foxgloves would be a good bet. But always worth remembering how poisonous they are if you have DCs.

Thanks, will get some white foxgloves and some allium bulbs later on.
There wont be anything later in the summer, is it worth trying to squeeze something else in, eg white centranthus which is quite narrow and likes poor soil?