Hellebores as cut flowers

Hellebores are nice to have in the garden.

• Deer, rabbits and ground hogs don't eat them.
• They grow well in partial shade.
• The flowers persist for weeks (though the color becomes a bit duller).
• They are as early as daffodils but don't look like spring bulbs.  
• The foliage is attractive and evergreen.  
• They are reliably hardy and live a long time

Hellebores used to be fairly hard to find but have recently appeared at big box stores like Lowe's and Home Depot.  Many of the newer ones are double but the singles are just as pretty and cheaper.

They also make good cut flowers and will look good in a vase for at least a week.

They sometimes don't take up water well after cutting.  The flowers in the above picture were cut last night and the red one on the lower right is having this problem.  It sometimes helps (except when it doesn't) to put them into hot tap water and let it cool.