Upon receiving shipment
Please unpack your shipment of Hellebore plants as soon as you receive them. While we always do our best packing your shipment, there are forces of nature that we cannot control, shipping company employees who believe all boxes should be thrown, for instance. If the box is damaged or appears to have suffered from unusual stress please try to photograph it if possible and inform both Pine Knot Farms and the shipping agent. Since we usually ship U.P.S. the shipping agent would be the driver who delivers your package. Unpack the plants and remove all  of the paper and packing materials, check these for labels that may have been shaken loose during transit. Make sure any dry pots or cells are well watered since these can dry out during shipment. 

Planting Out or Potting On
We advise allowing plants in cell flats to have a period of adjustment or “Honeymoon” before potting them onto a larger size. Please check your plants to determine if any fungal problems have developed during shipment and treat with a good quality fungicide if necessary. Place plants in a well ventilated area out of direct sunlight. Water in and give them a few days to acclimate to their new surroundings. If you are potting on we recommend that plants be put into a container approximately twice the size of the root ball, i.e. cells into a one (1) quart pot. Hellebores in containers need to be monitored very carefully to insure that they do not dry out or get over watered. We feel that more plants are killed by too much water than by any other cause. There is an unsupported rumor that hellebores especially H. niger needs lime, while there is no proof of this, it is our belief that applying a moderate amount of lime either in the form of ground limestone or oyster shells won't hurt the plants, especially if they are to be grown in acid soil.