Helleborus and Paeonia seedlings
Jane McGary (Mon, 08 Apr 2013 15:52:28 PDT)

I also do not scarify Paeonia seed. Usually the first leaves appear
after two periods of winter chill, but this year I was surprised to
have a few germinate after one cold period. I transplant them into
individual 4-inch pots when they go dormant the autumn after the
leaves first grow, then plant them out in one more year.

Paeonia seeds can, however, remain dormant longer and still be
viable. When I mixed potting soil to move many plants from my old
garden to the new one two and a half years ago, I included the soil
from old abandoned seed pots. Now I have Paeonia seedlings coming up
here and there in the new garden (mostly in completely inappropriate
places) where I set in the other plants.

Helleborus, in contrast, germinates much better when the seeds are
sown fresh; they will germinate, generally just forming cotyledons,
the following spring. This spring my old garden has hundreds of
hellebores in flower, mostly the "hybridus" kind but also some
species. They have not been watered for two summers. There is a fine
H. purpurascens there, but I felt it was too mature to move; last
week I took some seedlings from near it, and I hope at least one of
them resembles the seed parent. Young hellebore plants move much
better than larger ones.

Jane McGary
Portland, Oregon, USA

At 03:38 PM 4/8/2013, you wrote: