Dawn,
Expect your seeds to need the warm/cold/warm cycle unless you find stratified seeds. In general, the fresher the seed, the better your results. Many of us using this forum have recently received seeds via mail from the southern hemisphere (Elizabeth Town Hellebores in Tasmania), and this can speed up the process as they come ready for cold stratification. H. x hybridus is simple and virtually foolproof and H. foetidus seedlings tend to really grow rapidly here, although any hellebore seeds you acquire are well worth the time. Good luck. I'm sure you will get more great advice from the others.
Joseph

So if I order from Elizabeth Town's then I only need to do a cold treatment & then a warm treatment?

For the cold treatment....do you just keep them in the freezer? For how long?

What's involved with the warm treatment? Is this the process where you are trying to get them to sprout?

Thanx for your advice!

Hi Dawn,
Below is a post from December 30 that I posted in the Perennial Forum. If you look into the tasmanian seed threads you will find further information and there is an old thread on growing from seed, I will try to locate it and drag it to the top.

The general, popular excepted germination method is to plant fresh hellebore seed and allow 6 weeks of a warm moist planting, followed by a cool moist planting of 6 weeks. Warm being 50 to 70 degrees F and cool being 28 to 38 degrees F. Moist is a dampness that is damp but not wet and soggy.
Elizabeth Town Hellebores are sent in damp sterile vermiculite and so are not dried stored. The only problem with this damp storing method is the seed will germinate in 8 to 12 weeks or rot.

The problem with dry storage I believe is the amount of dryness the seed is exposed to. The hellebore has a very thin seed coat, so it does not tolerate low levels of humidity for long periods. I have heard reports of seed being stored of over a year at room temperature's and still have acceptable germination rate.

My conclusion is, if the seed is stored at the right humidity and not dried too dry it will remain good for sometime. In the wild the seed matures and is dispersed in a very dry environment in the summer months before the weather turns favorable for germination.

I would soak dry hellebore seed for a period of time, 3 or 4 days. John Dudley likes to soak dry seed in Hydrogen Peroxide, 3% H2O2, some claim this will hasten germination. After soaking the seed, the seed should swell and become plump. At this time the seed needs the 6 weeks warmth and then 6 weeks cool. I find that placing the seed in a damp soil-less mix in a plastic bag for these periods work fine. I also leave the seed in the crisper of the fridge until the seed starts to sprout, this may be longer than the required 6 weeks. They will sprout and grow at 38 degrees F., hellebores are a very cool weather plant.

The above are my observations of hellebore seed culture and may change with the coming season. I do not find the seed culture that complex or difficult. The seedlings are very tough and grow fast.

Bruce

I would like to add to the above.

I like to use more media with the seed. You should remove the seed from the shipping package with the media and place in a new clean plastic bag with more sterile media.

I like a 10 week warm period.

You should check the seed in the bag routinely for fungus growth. If you find fungus growth, if caught in time you can place the seed with media in a new plastic bag after you first air out the media and seed.

I leave the seed at the cool required temp in the fridge until the seed sprouts.

When the seed sprouts I remove the little guy and plant with its little white tail down in small pots.

It helps to open the plastic bag every week and allow fresh air in and to move the seed and mix around. Then place the fluffed up mix back into the cool temps.

Do not be alarmed if you have a hard time seeing the seed in the mix, they sometimes seem to disappear. If they rot you will see them rot, when they sprout they will standout in the media.

Have patients! And plan for germination in around 8 to 12 weeks after you have started cooling the seed. Once they start germing leave in the fridge until you transplant. You will have days if not weeks to transplant. Using this method you can delay germination to correspond with your season. I hold my own collected seed dry for 8 to 10 weeks or longer, store warm moist for 8 to 12 weeks and then count ahead 8 weeks for when I want the seed to emerge. For me,the best time for hellebore seed emergence is in mid-March.