Molly's White is a Lenten rose that blooms when almost nothing else does, opening large, outward-facing white flowers with soft green centers from late winter into spring. The leathery evergreen foliage stays dark and presentable year round, and mature clumps hold dozens of blooms at once.

Hellebores are a notably tough choice for dry shade in Birmingham: plant them under trees or on a shaded slope in well-drained soil and they settle in for decades. Deer never touch them. Trim away tattered old leaves in January so the winter flowers stand clear, and otherwise leave them alone.