They will tolerate a wide range of soils, but will not survive prolonged periods of extremes. Wet boggy conditions will rot the crowns. Long periods of heat and drought will deplete the storage in the fleshy roots. My experience with most members of the buttercup family is to keep the roots moist and cool, but give it light. I always enrich the soil deeply with composted manure and leaf mold.
Young seedlings have little capacity to withstand stress, so keep well watered the first year.
Mulch heavily around but not directly on the crown. Monkshood may be planted in the very early spring or late fall, but my preferred time is late fall. The roots need to be well settled before our hot and dry weather hits. September and October plantings have time to settle in and establish feeder roots long before the energy needed for foliage and flowering the following year. Planting a mix of wolfbane, with its yellows, white and rose, among the various shades of blue of the monkshoods would create a large dramatic show.