I collected hellebore seeds while still in their un-opened pods this weekend. This morning the pods released their seeds. Does the color of hellebore seeds indicate if they are mature and/or viable? Most of my seeds are white with only small percentages being dark. Thank you
Have sown black seed, not sure if the white ones are viable. Germination seems best and viability longer if the seeds are kept moist.
I've never been able to get those white seeds to germinate, I believe they are too immature when "picked" or just weren't really viable in the first place. A nice fat shiny black seed is almost guaranteed to germinate. As mentioned, keep them moist from now on...a ziploc of slightly moist peat works well until they start to sprout when weather cools, then they can be sown into seed pots or individual plugtray cells, etc.
