I transplanted ten hepatica plants onto my woods and waited for years for them to colonize the area.They'd flower every spring and I'd search for seedlings around the plants every the summer to no avail.Then one year I realized that,among some flat stones of a nearby walkway,a half of dozen or so plants had spouted.I dont know if it was because of the disturbances in the pathway,the bare soil under the flat stones,or whether the seeds were deposited there by ants,(something I heard),but that walkway has become the source for any new plants.

Ants are the main planter of Hepatica. You can divide them, too.