Pacific Northwest Gardening: Laurie's Garden Tour, 1 by

wrote:
Those are really lovely, Portland! You have a couple of kinds there and they will be outgrowing that windowbox fairly soon, so I hope that is their temporary home. Hellebores have deep roots and need a bit of room as they grow. I love the color of that peachy one. Is it a named variety? Such an unusual color on it. Definitely do not pinch back.

On your iris, if you just moved into the house, they are likely to need dividing as already stated, and at the time already stated. After bloom is best. Right now, be sure to protect them from slugs as they love to make the leaves really ugly looking. Talking to them is good, but be nice. As Kayte always says, everything wants to grow. Send a mean vibration to them and they just may fail to flower for you! If they have been in place for a long time, they may be several layers deep, with rhizomes growing on top of rhizomes... It can get crazy. Also, they actually like to have their tubers barely above the soil and this is the proper way to plant them, so when you divide and replant, do not bury the tubers. They like to bake in the sun during the summer and this will help them bloom beautifully.

Tills, here are some snowdrops. They are such a nice early bulb. If you want large areas of them, the best way is to lift them while they are blooming ("in the green", right, Laurie?) and divide them and replant. They will not miss a beat and next year you will have even more.