My winter climate is similar to yours and these are truly winter blooming plants. Depending on the variety (H. foetidus being the earliest), mine will start blooming in December. After H. foetidus will come the xhybridus forms (January/February), then assorted other hybrids (February - April). These are approximate bloom times for a mild winter climate and can be affected by weather and/or winter sun exposure. Flowers tend to open sequentially over a period of several weeks to a month or more and the flowers remain looking good for several months. I just recently finally cut off the old flowers stalks on several of my hellebores!!

oh wow ! I was thinking it was more March / April. Something that blooms more in January would me amazing for this garden area !!

I don't want them to bloom the same time as my daffodil though, so maybe I should go with the H. Doetidus

"I don't want them to bloom the same time as my daffodil though"

Why not? Hellebores are great companions for early spring blooming bulbs!! btw, if you want the colored flowers, then you need to stick to the xhybridus varieties or what are incorrectly referred to as the orientalis hybrids. These are the only hellebores that offer a range of flower colors. Helleborus foetidus only has green flowers (sometimes with a red edging) and the later blooming hybrids (x ballardiae, ericsmithii, nigercors, sternii, etc) all have white to pale pink flowers.

I don't grow it so I forgot to mention, but Helleborus niger is often the earliest to bloom, sometimes as early as November. Pure white flowers.

Which variety of hellebores has the longest bloom period? Or are they just about the same?

I have an opening between two trees and want to add some, but only have room for two plants and wa t to make the most of it

All hellebores hold their flowers for a long time although they may not necessarily be producing new ones. IME, one with a very long period of flower production (so new flowers being produced in addition to holding onto earlier blooming ones) is Helleborus 'Walhelivor', sold under the trade name of Ivory Prince.

For a long bloom period, I have found that nothing beats a stand of a few plain H. niger. Although I'm in a zone cooler than you, I've had H. niger in bloom over a 8 month period from October to May in some years and from December to May most every year. Some plants even send up a second flush of blooms.

Biggest problem with niger is the foliage is not as nice as the hybridus group.

Gardengal I just revisited this post and wanted to ask, when would you say Ivory Prince would bloom in my area? I was actually searching Ivory Prince, Pink Frost and Maid of Honor as my considerations.

Any opinions on these ?

I have no idea.........your climate is far different from mine. Here, Ivory Prince can start blooming in December and continue on through May. Doesn't always follow this pattern and it depends a lot on siting and sunlight, but it has that potential.

Can Ivory Prince take some evening sun in the summer time ? I hear they can tolerate sun, if you remember i had my Patriot hostas in this same area that i want to put the Ivory Prince, the Patriots got a little burnt in this spot so im curious if these will be ok or if i need to find a better spot. In all fairness the Patriot's could have just had some transplant shock as i planted them in june, but either way there is some late afternoon sun in this spot.