I think you would have better luck with fresher seeds- I'd look around eBay and Etsy next spring.

What about sending out a request on your local FB group for those that may be dividing their hellebores? Offer to pay 5 bucks. If you get any offers, make sure you shake off the original soil and rinse the roots before you bring them home--pack them in your own soil (that you brought with you!)

also.. there used to be a very active winter sowing forum ... i dont know if Hs are possible that way.. but it might be a good source of info ...

ken

@Anna (6B/7A in MD), no one in my area uses FB, it's nothing but scams :-/ After they opened up their servers to allow non-US IP addresses, the whole site went to junk.

There's a local website that's a lot better, and I sell a lot of my excess on there, but I've never seen anyone with hellebores. Even my local nursery seemed confused when I asked! Of course they were just regular staff and not horticulturists, but still, that makes me think that they're not common in my area.

Thanks, @gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9), I'll check out that nursery. I've had TERRIBLE luck ordering live plants online (mostly due to the local USPS and UPS, not the nursery), but they're pretty close to me so maybe it would be better. Shoot, it might be worth a 3 hour drive to see them in person...

look up Barry Glick at Sunshine nursery in Kentucky. He sells hellebore plugs.

He and his writing seem a bit eccentric. I haven't read reviews. I know someone complained their hellebore plugs were small but plugs are not big,

He's got lots of other interesting woodland stuff at very reasonable prices.

Surprise! Curious and went to that website and hellebores are front and center on the opening page. Didn't go any further but there's lots there to chew on. You;ll have fun reading whether or not you order from them. My experience ordering plants on line, like on ebay, was crummy. I wouldn't waste my money again.

Well if youre even thinking about a drive to pine knot, check out their calendar. I think this saturday is a festval weekend with vendors and plenty of plants for sale

Btw dont even think about buying those seeds. the photos are photoshopped and i doubt you’ll even receive hellebore seed, let alone anything even remotely close to what’s pictured. its a scam.

Totally agree about that vendor. Pictures and text are misleading nonsense. If you want to pursue seed, buy from a reputable specialist company (check reviews).

Blooms in two years from seed feels unrealistic to me. My hellebores produce numerous seedlings but five years to bloom is typical.

The image in that link does appear photoshopped. Beyond that, the seller is from Vietnam, raising another big red flag (be extremely wary in general of sellers from China, southeast Asia and Russia, who are often scammers). The likelihood of getting anything remotely resembling the pictured blooms is approximately zero, assuming whatever seeds you're sent actually germinate.

eBay is another hotbed of scam plant and seed offers accompanied by photoshopping.

Hellebore seeds are a crapshoot in any case, unless you have a reliable source of fresh seed. I've gotten several young plants from self-sowing (what they'll turn out to be is anyone's guess).

I agree with others, I do not recommend buying seeds or plants on ebay except in certain very rare circumstances. There are a handful of known, legit sellers - most are not.

Here are places I would order Hellebore seed, if I were so inclined:

Jelitto

Plant World Seeds

JL Hudson

Thompson and Morgan

Sheffield