Hellebore seedling

[maggiepie]

Think this will be the only flower from this plant.
Looks like it is croaking 

The flower is quite different to any of my other seedlings.

[Maggi Young]

How frustrating, Helen. That is a super flower. What do you think might be wrong with the plant?

There may be some help here : http://grahamrice.com/hellebore/cultivation/p&d.html

[maggiepie]

I don't have a clue, Maggi.
There is one leaf and the stem with the flower, it was lying on the ground.
Thought it might have rotted, I lost a few hellebores this winter but it's pretty dry where this one is.
Maybe it just needed water, hoping it might revive.
Just thought, maybe the fertilizer I threw around a few days ago burned it.
 

[Lesley Cox]

Could it have something like vine weevil grubs or grass grubs among the roots?

[maggiepie]

Lesley, as far as I know we don't have any vine weevil grubs.
Probably have every other pest under the sun.
The more I think about it the more I suspect it might have been the slow release fertilizer I threw around a few days ago.
I didn't water it in well as we were expecting 4 days of rain.
The bed where that particular hellebore is stayed dry.

[Lesley Cox]

A slow release fertilizer shouldn't have a burning/killing effect. It is slow release for that very reason, to AVOID over supply of the chemicals at one time. If the bed stayed dry, the fertilizer probably hasn't had any effect at all as yet.

[maggiepie]

Lesley, I have given it a good watering, crossing my fingers that might perk it up.
What would you do, dig it up and examine the roots for clues?

[Lesley Cox]

If the plant is not too big, and it doesn't sound as if it is, I'd probably dig it up and yes, have a good look for anything nasty but you may also find that the lowest parts are dry if you haven't had inches of rain on it. We often get a few mm of rain and I water of course but it frequently doesn't penetrate right to the bottom of the plant. So a dig up and a soak overnight in a bucket of water would help if it IS dry.

My two plants of the white Rhodo camtschaticum were looking very wilted in late summer and even though I watered then day after day, they only got worse. I was frightened of losing them altogether but lifted them and soaked each in a bucket for 3 days. They revived wonderfully and it had the added bonus of my being able to cut off from underneath, enough runners to pot up 45 nursery plants! These in turn made new leaves as did the big ones and hopefully in the spring, all will burst into new growth (leaves going now).

[maggiepie]

Thanks, Lesley,

Will dig it up tomorrow, it is just a small plant and really, I have nothing to lose and everything to gain.