Can Irises be grown from seed???

Our past neighbor had an enormous garden filled with huge 4 foot tall yellow irises. This house is now in forclousure but the seed pods are hanging over the fence from these huge flowers. I know the norm is rizomes but can these seed pods that I have removed huge amounts of seed from be grown from seed?
Is this a stupid question or am I?

NOT a stupid question! Of course they can be grown from seed -- that is how the hybridizers make the new varieties! Your seeds, however, may not be exactly like the yellow iris they came from. They are just like people -- 2 parents may produce an off-spring that looks a lot like them, but, may look completely different (look at your brothers and sisters!). In any case, they grow very easily from seed and are fun to watch to see what you get! I plant mine in pots in regular garden soil in the late summer, and I leave them outdoors in a protected place. They germinate in the spring, then I plant them "line them out" in the garden. They usually will not bloom the first year, but will start blooming the 2nd and 3rd years. Good luck!

Sue - Zone 6a

That is good news. This is what the plant looks like now. The plants are so.... tall and beautiful Yellow flowers. I am going to try and dig a few rizomes. I know there are no stupid questions I just feel kind of stupid sometimes but how else am I going to find out the answers.

You are so right! Since you are in the heart of "Iris Heaven" there in Oregon, you will fit right in with the rest of the hybridizers. If you can dig a couple of the rhizomes, you can compare your seedling blooms in a couple of years to the "mom" to see how different they can be. Keep us posted!

I did manage to get a few dug up before my shovel broke. I guess thats what I get for being a garden thief. Not really. The yard looks terrible and I wish I could do something in return but the water has been turned off. This is what it looks like now. It used to be a thing of beauty

I would be out there digging as much as I could to save them.
Poor Iris did not ask for this.
Oh what a sad thing to see.
LOL DH goes to Or every week....wish he could drop me off
with a shovel. I would so save them.

You see that time and again with abandoned properties. It just hurts to see places with beautiful gardens for years and suddenly it is just neglected and dying. Too bad some of them don't advertise to have the plants worth something removed for someone else to enjoy before it is too late. I know I would go.