monkey, if they were freshly harvested when you purchased them they could possibly germinate without warm, cold, warm cycles, but that isn't common and it isn't likely you would have germination now.

Usually the first thing you see when a hellebore seed begins to germinate is the seed coat itself pushing up from the soil, followed shortly after by the cotyledons (seed leaves) pushing that off and coming into view.

I top seed pots for things with a lengthy germination time with grit (chick grit, available at some nurseries and all feed/farm supply stores) to discourage moss, algae. In a pinch, you can even buy a box of parakeet gravel in the pet aisle of your grocery store.

Here is a link that might be useful:

Thank you for the info. I thought it was unlikely but I was worried cause i didn't know for sure. We will see in the spring what happens.

Linda