Sweet Violet Seeds

I have purchased sweet violet seeds from Richters and noticed that the header on the page states that ease of germination is difficult. What must I do to handle the seeds and young plants to insure that I am successful in getting a bed of sweet violets to grow? I have a patch in some birch woods where I would hope to establish a bed of them in partial shade.

Sweet violet seeds are usually dormant and they need special treatment to break seed dormancy. After sowing seeds in a flat, keep flat at 20 degrees Celsius (70 F) for 2 weeks, then move flat 4-6 weeks into cold at 0 C (32 F). Then switch to 5-10 C (40-50 F) to initiate germination. Once they have germinated, they are no trouble, but are only winter hardy to zone 5.