How small is 'small'? (two feet, three feet, four feet or a few inches). Also, is the soil dry, moist or average? Knowing a few more details will allow us to make better recommendations

Two feet high only please. Our soil is quite heavy clay! We want to plant small bulbs and hellibores around it.

Sorry my suggestion f Mahonia answering the second time this question appeared is no good as it gets too tall. The euonymus fortunii varieties will usually rarely reach two feet tall but they will get that wide and clan be clipped to the size you want. They don't flower but as the foliage is so bright and cheerful all year round they are well worth having. If you want it as a foil for hellebores the silver varieties would probably be better than the gold ones though.

Thanks Steragram for your very helpful suggestion. I think a euonymus sounds promising! Your photos are very pretty too. Roll on Spring!