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Re: Hellebores

Graham Rice wrote:

> All hellebores except H. foetidus, H. argutifolius, H. lividus and H.
> x
> sternii can be divided, the best time for this is late summer, eg the
> end
> of August or September in zone 8. But they do hate it. If you split a
> fat
> clump into four using the traditional 'two forks' technique, which is
> perfectly possible, the resulting plants will often talke some time to
>
> settle down. They may well flower in their first spring because the
> flower
> buds were formed before the plant was divided but it can be a couple
> of
> years before vigorous growth recommences.
>
> So it always seems to me that if you're going to upset a plant so
> much, you
> might as well make the most of it. so i recommend lifting the plant,
> hosing
> all the soil off the roots and cutting up the clump into pieces (i use
> an
> old bread knife) with a couple of good noses and a few strong new
> white
> roots (black roots are old roots) on each piece. Then pot them up and
> keep
> them in a cold frame until the roots peep through the holes in the pot
> when
> they can be planted out or potted on.
>
> It's tempting to remove strong pieces from the outside edge of an
> established clump without actually lifting it from the ground - this
> is a
> big mistake. Growth at the edge is the most vigorous but by removing
> it you
> leave behind only the oldest and weakest growth and the result is that
> your
> clump slowly fades away.
>
> Seed is certainly best collected as soon as it it's ripe, usually in
> May
> and June, and sown before the end of July. It's important to keep the
> seed
> moist after sowing; seed of the Orientalis Hybrids will often
> germinate at
> approaching 100% before Chrsitmas, H. niger usually takes longer.
>
> Seed bought from seed companies or received from seed lists may not
> arrive
> until mid winter and sowing then usually produces very low
> germination. I
> find it's better to keep the seed dry, in the fridge, until normal
> sowing
> time and sow in July to fit in with the nornmal cycle.
>
> Hellebore seed does not need frost, it needs warm moist conditions
> followed
> by a dropping temperature; the Orientalis Hybrids often germinate
> before
> there has been much actual frost. Sow in winter and the seed gets
> these
> condtions in reverse order.
>
> Collecting seed from garden plants which have been pollinated by bees
> gives
> highly unpredictable results as hellebores have mechanisms to
> encourage
> outcrossing rather than self pollination. Hand pollination of the
> flowers
> (which are conveniently large) gives much more control over the
> quality of
> the offspring.
>
> And please, if you collect seed fom named cultivars please do not give
> it
> away or sell it with the name of the cultivar from which it was
> collected.
> The only thing you can be sure of is that seed collected from a named
> cultivar will *not* be identical to its parent so should not carry the
>
> parent's name - that way lies only chaos.
>
> You will find more on all this in The Gardeners Guide to Hellebores
> (David
> & Charles in the UK, Timber Press in the US and in Dutch later this
> spring)
> written by long time hellebore expert and breeder Elizabeth Strangman
> and
> myself.
>
> Graham Rice
> Northamptonshire UK zone 8

   Hi all --

I too have split  Hellebores, and they don't love it ---- However,  I
may have found a new method to propagate Helleborus -- vegetatively.

Last year,(I believe late summer) someone stepped on one of my favorite
Hellebores, and crushed the plant.  Any leaf that had some of the
rootstock attached was placed into my propagation tent.  Within 4 weeks,
roots had formed.
Maybe this will change existing and traditionalpropagation techniques of
Helleborus  and make it easier -- who knows?

Rika        Willow Pond Nursery
http://www.willowpondnursery.com
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