Hi Gardenweed, Thanks for the tips re: planting schedules - that makes sense to me, and is pretty much what I would have guessed, but nice to have it confirmed by someone with more experience. How fortunate you are to have grown up with gardening parents, and to have inherited all that good soil yâÂÂall built up over the years! IâÂÂm in the house my husband grew up in, and I donâÂÂt think his folks were much into gardening, so each year I try to carve out and claim another little bed or corner as time and energy allow⦠That is a shame about your laptop (and job) crashing. My husband & I have a computer shop here in our small town, and he also teaches computer classes at our local library, one of which is photo editing. For that one he has his students use Magix Xtreme, which I believe is a free download - might be a useful (and cheaper) alternative to Photoshop. Not to get too far off gardening here, but we are also sometimes-sailors! We bought a MacGregor 25 in 2006, and took it on a big adventure sailing down the gulf coast of Florida for 5 weeks in 2007. Since then, we try to get out on our nearest lake for a month or so each year, where we can dock it and leave it for a few week end visits with friends. HavenâÂÂt had a chance to do any sailing this year, since our shop assistant quit at the end of Feb - too many computers to fix in this town. He has occasionally hinted at chucking it all and taking up the live-aboard cruising lifestyle, to which I always have to point out that as appealing as that sounds, it is very hard to garden on a boat! :) CanâÂÂt have all our hobbies in one basket, unfortunately. IâÂÂll keep those hostas in mind when I get around to planting. (Good tip about the egg shells!) IâÂÂm in our local garden club, and that seems like something some of my fellow members might have, so maybe I can get some shares, if thatâÂÂs not too hard to do. Once again, thanks for your helpful insight & genial conversation! Best to you - Amy

Yes, different hellebore species can produce growth at different times. But this is not what you are seeing :-) Your hellebores (according to the photo and your description) are ALL x hybridus -- the difference in growth patterns is most likely due to the age difference and maybe also to planting times. Helleborus x hybridus will typically start producing new foliar growth in late winter/early spring, around the same time it flowers (just slightly later). Many hellebore gardeners remove the old season foliage just before flowering because a) it looks pretty ratty, b) can harbor fungal diseases, and c) allows the flowers to be seen unobscured. However, the plant can produce new leaf growth at any time - often you will see this happening in fall in response to cooler temps. You will often see some sporadic flowering at this time also. I'd guess the young plants experienced more damage simply because of their tender age AND more tender foliage:-) Who knows - they might even have been greenhouse grown! They'll toughen up after a season or two in the garden.

I'm not sure who packaged your seeds, but I don't think you will have successful germination with just 21 days moist chill followed by warmer temps.....that doesn't come close to my experience with helleborus over several years, several seed sources, including my own seeds. Were your seeds sent to you moist packed, where they may have already been given a moist warm period - that would explain skipping that step. Two good germination databases: Druse - moist warm 56-70 days, followed by moist cold 56-70 days followed by bring to 60 - 65F for germination in additional 30-545 days. Clothiers - Helleborus orientalis, Pour hot water over seeds, let soak 1-3 days until swelling noticeable. Sow at 71ºF for 6 weeks or more. Move to 24-39ºF for 6-8 weeks (my own note - use refrigerator, not your freezer for this if not sowing outdoors). Then raise the temperature to 50ºF. If no germination in 4-6 weeks, repeat the cycle from the beginning. If the warm/cold cycles were not long enough, a new warm/cold cycle is needed. short viable seeds

hello, I'm joining this thread to say that I have some hellebores in bloom as of this week, and they are fresh and beautiful. My variety is 'Ivory Prince' and is sometimes listed as zone 5, sometimes 4. They are in a walled in garden, underneath a vernal witch hazel and alongside sweet woodruff. I planted three a couple of years ago. Two are strong and thriving, one struggles and is smaller but does bloom every year. I give them an annual dressing of compost, and trim up the tatty foliage in the spring. They have not reseeded and colonized, and are only 18" tall rather than the 30" height that is possible, but that seems par for the course in my northern Maine garden. They really do lift the spirits, as they are my first perennials to bloom, even before scilla. The foliage is multi-colored and beautiful to look at all year. I have them edging a path near a garden bench in the shade. I think they are elegant and beautiful, and hope someday to find some other hospitable nooks and crannies for additional varieties. Hope this helps! Mine came from Plainview Farm in North Yarmouth.