Hi, Angeline. Welcome to the FW forum! Now that you've posted, I hope you'll stay around!

I grow H. nobilis and H. transylvanica (my favourite). The easiest thing to do is just let the plant self-seed. Hepatica is not going to ever be invasive, but I always find a few little seedlings, each spring, to move around. My plants didn't start self-seeding until they were at least a couple of years in the garden.

The immature seed will not likely germinate for you. Are there other seed pods on the plant? If so, they might ripen properly. If not, I'd be tempted to just drop the seeds you have on the ground near the parent plant and wait and see what happens. (You have nothing to lose. Let Mother Nature do all the work for you!!) If you mulch under the plant, you might want to move some away to allow the seeds to contact the ground.

Hope you stay with the FW group! Where, in Alberta, are you?

Thanks for the prompt reply and I think that I'll give your advice a try. I am in Lac La Biche which is about 2 1/2 hours northeast of Edmonton. Definitely a zone challenge and tough clay to boot but we struggle on. I was most definitely surprised to find little hepatica up and blooming first thing in the spring with snow still on the ground. And of course you have inspired me to look up transylvanica. Off to google.
Thank you, Angeline

You're very welcome! Calgary has clay soil, too, so I can relate. H. transylvanica blooms even earlier, in my garden, than H. nobilis, if you can believe it. I have a few blue ones and one pink:

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Excuse the ratty foliage from the previous year. I leave it on because I believe it still feeds the plant, even if it's not perfect.

I almost bought a Hepatica with marbled foliage, this spring...until I saw the price tag for the 3" pot: $30.00! Ouch! That's almost as bad as the double Japanese forms. If you want to REALLY drool over Hepaticas, have a look at the selections at this BC nursery!! Hang on tight to your VISA or M/C as you scroll down the page!! ;-)

Here is a link that might be useful: Fraser's Thimble Farms--Japanese Hepaticas

Shihou is only $375.00!

A couple of weeks ago I ordered Hepatica nobilis `mixed seedling' for $4 from Thimbles, thanks Doris for the self-seeding tip.

Sharon

A gardening contact in Norway has peaked my interest in Hepaticas and I am looking for seedlings next spring if anyone has spares or will sell. Glad to pay for them as I see the plants are quite "valuable"

Here is a link that might be useful: My Garden Blog