| Yes, most probably so. They're designed that way. Hellebores are protogynous, which means that they have stigmas that become receptive before the stamens of the same flower mature and shed their pollen. In nature (when there are lots of pollinators about)this means that they are most likely to be cross pollinated, at least from a different flower, if not a different plant. If you want to be sure of your seeds parentage, you need to take a small paintbrush and dust the pollen from the donor stamens onto the stigma for the receptor, or better still take a pair of tweezers and pluck a stamen and use this as your brush directly. This needs to be done before the bees get at the flowers, either when they first open or by hooding your flowers. To be really complete you can remove all the samens from the receptor flower and cover the bloom with a muslim bag to prevent unwanted visitors with more pollen, this also serves to catch the seed when ripe. Personally, after Hand Pollinating like this I tie a label with the details round the neck using a piece of wool, and don't bother to remove the stamens etc, after all if it's fully pollinated you should have all embryonic seed fertilised already. Check the ripening pods once they have swelled and changed colour, when they just pop under gentle pressure, your seed are ready. Cheers Greenmanplants |
