astrantia seed collecting, saving and storing

Has anyone collected and germinated their own astrantia seed? Last year I saved tons and sowed some along with some Suttons, only 1 seed from my collected batch germinated, then died a quick death. I stratified for 8 weeks, as well as winter sowing ( that was the one that germinated) and nothing!I want to list some on my trade list, but I want to make sure I am doing everything right. I have heard that they need to be stored moist, they need the crinkled seed coat to be removed, no stratification, scarification. Has anyone had success with storage and germination?

They much prefer to be sown fresh. You can keep them as normal up to 6 months in the fridge after collecting them but if you are buying them from a seed company sow them quite quickly as you won't know how long they have had them in storage.

Sow in moist compost on the surface, they need light to germinate. Keep at room temperature (around 60F) for a couple of weeks and then pop them in the fridge (covered with a clear bag) for about 4 to 6 weeks. Bring them back to room temperature as above for another couple of weeks and they should germinate. You can go through the fridge to room temperature cycle again if they don't.

If you have older seed you could just throw them in a prepared spot in the garden, they may or may not germinate there and can take over a year for seedlings to appear.

Thank you! There is so little info out there! I knew I was doing something wrong, I was putting them in the fridge first, cold then warm, instead of warm, cold, warm. Thank you again, I knew it would be someone from the UK who would know!

I know the UK is light years ahead of canada when it comes to available varieties, but if you are interested I have a few cultivars that set copious amounts of seed - sunningdale variegated, sunningdale gold, carniolica rubra, rosea, shaggy, rosensinfonie and moulin rouge (last one is just reblooming, may or may not set seed before frost). I would be more than happy to send you whichever ones interest you. Seeds should be ready to harvest in a few weeks. Just as a little thanks for the info. Here is a picture of sunnigndale gold, most of the foliage is washed out, but you can still see a little gold.

I never had any luck with the sunningdale, managed to germinate them 3 times, but they just die off on me, whereas the others carry on.
I was wondering if because of the veriagation in the leaf, is it a weaker plant? Though i have to say your plant looks lovely and healthy.

Thanks for the offer of seeds Bonniewong, I hope you don't mind if I decline your offer for the moment, I'm runing around in circles right now but I do appreciate your offer :)

I agree with Sueone, yours looks like a great plant, the Sunningdales I've seen in the garden centre seem to be a mix of weakly looking plants with one or two decent sized.