In article ,
"Rachel" wrote:

"William Wagner" wrote in message

et...

I do nothing and they self seed sometimes. Can you speak about laying
flower stalks down ? I'd like to help the process as so far it is
mystery. Still looking about and identifying plants is fun.

I really have no experience and followed no principles from books or
elsewhere, only I knew that the seeds don't travel well and had heard that
the plants do reseed right where they are. I don't want a zillion hellebores
next to the one where I have it by the front steps, so I tried two places -
one there and one elsewhere. I waited till the seed pods sticking out of the
middle of the blossoms had turned black and really looked ripe (it was late
May, even into June, maybe), and the flowers themselves were looking raggedy
and finished. I cut the flower stalks at the base with scissors. One of them
I laid on the ground a foot away from the mother plant, and brushed some
pine needle mulch up around it. The other one, I took to a different,
desirable location at the edge of the woods (oak forest), pushed the
previous year's leaves aside and put the flower stalk on the bare ground,
then pushed the leaves back up around it. That's all. About three weeks ago
the seedlings came up, tons of them. It really looks as if maybe 80% of the
seeds on the stalks germinated. They'll have to be thinned, and some of them
transplanted, but a few I'll leave in place, because I hear they don't like
transplanting, either. I have just about limitless numbers of places for
them to go, on an acre and a half of woodland, with a clearing for the
house, and paths. ... Just now everything is beautiful with native Cutleaf
Toothwort and Claytonia Virginica (Spring Beauty), plus some Virginia
Bluebells and Bloodroot that I got started a couple of years ago and they're
spreading - and that's even though my efforts to eradicate the invasive
Garlic Mustard and Japanese Honeysuckle from the forest floor are slow and
laborious.




Thanks a lot for the info! I'll give it a try. I value some
Hellebores over others and now have a possible way to go more in that
direction. Next on my learning curve will be hand pollination ).

Best

Bill

--
S Jersey USA Zone 5 Shade
This article is posted under fair use rules in accordance with
Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, and is strictly for the educational
and informative purposes. This material is distributed without profit.

Isn't that subspecies known as stinky hellebore? Do they smell bad?

stinking

Only if you start tearing or crushing the leaves, I hear.

"axeman" wrote in
:



How about just buying a ready-grown plant from a reliable
LOCAL nursery? It's not an uncommon plant.




I checked with one. They don't have seedling size, only gallons,
and they want $13 each!


You might want to wait until the end of the season and see if you can
get any on sale. I picked up four last August and paid $10 for the
lot. They have beautiful flowers on them right now. I saw an ad in
a local nursery's flyer last week advertsing Hellebores 1 for $30 or 2
for $50. Insane pricing!

Good luck finding some. They are worth it if you can get them at a
reasonable price!!

Jacqui



Truly insane pricing - here in Nebraska (zone 5) I've been seeing them
priced between $10 - $15 mostly. Of course, like you, I'm waiting until the
"% off" sales before I buy... The one I got 3 years ago for $8 was covered
with flowers this spring (actually still covered with them) - and its so
nice to see something the rabbits haven't grazed to the ground!