Starting alliums from seed

My Allium Globemaster and also Mt. Everest are producing seed. Anyone have experience growing these from seed? what about conditions?
Do they come true and how long to get to a blooming bulb? This is a cross post from the Bulbs forum.
Thanks!

I tried over wintering some from a trade--had no luck at all. Usually I'm pretty good with seeds..so I was thinking it was the seed. I tried them over the winter considering that's how onions and related seeds work in my location. I would also like answers to your question!
Debbie

It looks like on one plant the seed heads are shriveling and won't make seed, another one is definitely - I think - making seed. I can see the little seed capsules forming. I was thinking of trying to wintersow it.

Mine seed themselves so maybe they need to go in right after the seeds appear. They are in places I never planted them even some of the extreme shade areas that are over 150 feet from the original plants.
Kim

Kim you are making me EXTREMELY jealous. I've had christophii, Mt Everest and Globemaster in the same places for 6 yrs and never had a seedling. And they don't multiply bulbs either as far as I can tell, although I have a 4th Mt Everest in what I remember as a stand of 3 so maybe the bulb has thrown off another bulblet. Do you clean leaves out of your garden beds - or what are your clean up practices? Also is your soil packed, crumbly, mulched, ? I would so much rather have them come back by themselves than mess with pots etc. It took me till 9 pm last night to finish planting all the wintersown seedlings from last winter. There was a lesson there for me.. tee hee, plant only what you really need.

And a Momma raccoon came with her 2 wee little youngsters across the deck while I was working last night. They got scared when they saw me and went around to the front of the house. I heard them and when I appeared in the dark on the front walkway the Mom started "wuff-ing" at the babies and ran off a little way. I wouldn't have known one of the babies was right beside me in a 6 ft evergreen except she kept making this wuff wuff little bark at him and he started climbing higher. I really wish she'd stop teaching the kids to look to me for a possible hand out. Those coons are a terrible nuisance and very dirty. They tore up wintersown containers, deck pots and planted dahlias over and over. I finally had to spray everything with both hot pepper wax and Liquid Fence.

I use a double ground pine mulch on all my beds and amend yearly with manure. It did take a while for the little ones to produce heads though and I pulled some at first not realizing what they looked like. I don't use any preen in these beds either as preen will kill the seeds or seedlings. I do some cleanup in the spring and most leaves go in the compost pile. Hope this helps I'm just trying to thin most of these beds out now most are shady and overcrowded.
Kim

I've grown many alliums from seed. Most need a stratification period to break dormancy...that's why they often pop-up around parent plants the next spring. Try giving them 6-8 weeks of moist, cold strat in the winter then they should germinate freely. named hybrids (Mount Everest as an example) may not come true from seed...you will probably get a mix of white and purple. Globemaster may have a range of sizes and shades. Christophii will come true.

Can you tell me when to gather the seed? Its green still at the moment. Can I transplant the seedling off in a corner? Do they like the same conditions as the parent bulb?

Wait until the seed capsules start to split...the seedws will be black once they are ready for harvesting. Keep them dry until you are ready to sow. The easiest way is to sow them in pots in February then place the pots outside in a sheltered spot for the rest of the winter. They should germinate freely in the spring. By the fall (maybe even mid-summer)they will be large enough to plant in the garden.