Lenten rose – Propagation

Q: Do you have any helpful information about propagating Lenten roses? They have large pods which drop lots of seeds.

A: If your Lenten roses have bloomed in the same spot more than once you probably have seedlings there now. If you have no seedlings, collect the seed and plant them immediately in a semi-shaded bed. They will yield seedlings by next spring.

Transplant the seedlings into a “nurse” bed. Fertilize in late May with a controlled release fertilizer (Osmocote, Dynamite, etc). Don’t expect much growth the summer afterwards but don’t let them dry out. When the seedlings are four inches tall the following April, divide and transplant them again, spacing them 10 inches apart.

Fertilize at planting and again in June. In early spring of the third year the plants can be moved to their permanent place in the landscape. They will bloom that year or the year after.

hellebore seedlings