Those who say they germinate their hellebore seeds in the fridge are just lying?

Backing up to the beginning, did you soak overnight before sowing to begin to soften the seed coat a little? Your warm moist period was on the short side, appears to have been about 2 1/2 weeks. I give my own a MINIMUM of 45 days warm moist before exposing to chill, Druse (Making More Plants) recommends 56-70 days initial warm/moist, Clothiers suggests "71ºF for 6 wks or more".

When sowing commercial dried seed rather than fresh and closely following the temp/time suggestions, germination can still be unpredictable. I've potted up seedlings when satisfied with the number that have germinated, emptied the remaining contents of the seed pot onto an area of garden bed - only to find those straggling 2 or 3 seeds germinating outside a full year later after going through a second round of warm moist, cold moist, cool at mother natures hands.

I agree - not enough warm/moist time before refrigeration.

Where did you get the seeds to begin with? Were they fresh? Had they been treated already? Definately needed more than 2 1/2 weeks warm-moist time. Good news is that it is okay to take them out of the fridge and begin that warm moist cycle over again. If they were dried out when you got them, they may need the repeated cycle anyway.

May I ask a question?

In my garden I seem to have 2 inch high seedlings of several hellebores growing right under this-year's laeves, but they have single serrated three-parts leaves. The probably 7 year old mother plants have leaves consisting of five parts, also slightly serrated. Are that actually hellebore seedlings or some weeds?

Sorry to highjack this posting somewhat.
Thanks for any help!
Bernd

Thanks for reading, I can answer my question now myself. I just read the posting about the seedling forest. My seedlings look the same, so I have some too. I do not have so many because I probably killed some with a layer of fresh mulch.
Bernd