Hosta Seed

Afternoon All,

I'd like to try saving some hosta seed this year but I'm having trouble finding them. Where should they be and what do they look like?

Thanks in advance,
La

Here's a picture on Wintersown.org's website:
http://wintersown.org/wseo1/Hosta_Seeds.html

I'd be really surprised if there are any seeds to be had yet ... once the flowers fade, dry, brown pods will form, and the roundish black seeds are inside. They're easy to find once the pods form. Eventually they split open and look like the picture in the link.

This is a neat page that tells you what you can expect from different kinds of Hostas. The vast majority of Hostas are hybrids, and the seedlings will be different from the plants they came from. But that's the fun part.
http://perfectperennials.tripod.com/id10.html


This message was edited Jul 12, 2007 1:04 AM

Interesting reading Claypa, thanks so much for the links! Have you grown hosta yourself from seed? If so I'd love to hear your experiences.

I'm better at gathering seeds than planting them, but I did collect a bunch of Hosta seeds last fall. I just scattered them in a future/in progess bed area and raked a little bit, and there are a very few tiny seedlings this year! I almost weeded them.
I should have planted them deeper. Some are variegated, some are plain green. I'll probably try some indoors under lights this coming winter. I have no idea what the parent plants names are though. I have three different greens, miniature blues, and variegated Hostas.

I will definitely be giving this a try. It's going to take will power not to cut off the dying scapes before they bear seed though. That so goes against every dead-heading instinct in my body. LOL! Thanks for sharing Claypa :-)

Hey Claypa! I'm trying to be patient, but I'm starting to get anxious. Should the seed pods be forming yet? It surely isn't possible that all my hosta are sterile...is it?

Did they flower? Some of mine have green pods forming, some are still blooming, and the species one hasn't even bloomed yet - I think it's supposed to be a late bloomer though.

I don't know if some are sterile or not. ? Maybe a Hosta forum question... I'll look for a thread!

http://davesgarden.com/forums/search.php?forum=&search_text=hosta+seed&limit=hostas&search_area=subject&limit_poster=&Search=Search

Being perennials, I assumed they would need a cold period, that's why I planted mine outdoors. But I'm reading that the seeds are viable as soon as they're ripe, so starting indoors under lights seems to be the way to go. I'd be surprised if any Hosta seeds are ready yet.

Thanks Claypa, it seems that either you are Critter or always charging to my gardening rescue. It hadn't occurred to me to use the forum search option (I'm the queen of stating the obvious) so since you answered my original post I came looking for you!

I think I was getting anxious because of a couple of threads I've seen lately on the hosta forum. One poster showed a picture of her hosta with seed pods, and the other mentioned that unbeknownst to her she had been trying to polinate a sterile plant. Since I've still not seen any pods on my own hosta those posts were making me wonder if I ever would. I have at least a dozen varieties though, so surely ONE of them should form pods wouldn't you think? I guess I'll just have to be more patient and keep watching.

I'd look up each variety and see what the story is. For all I know, a sterile plant would make sterile seeds, on a pod same as other Hostas.
I knew the answer to your original question but it didn'toccur to me some would be sterile. Maybe that's why I have so few seedlings.
Here's a few bad pictures of seedlings and pods

This green one I think is a species type, I forget the name. It hasn't bloomed yet so it is 'definitely not the father', as they say on TV.

It's hard to see, but these little blue ones have lots of pods. Maybe 'Mouse Ears', I don't know.

A big dark green Hosta with pods forming. It might be 'Krossa Regal', but I'm not sure about that.
edited to add the name

This message was edited Aug 6, 2007 12:53 PM

I'm going to move these this fall, to a place where I can see them from the house. The ones with white down the middle of the leaf can make variegated seedlings. Sorry, the compost pile isn't too glamorous

Last one, another bad picture but you can see the pods on the bottom of the scape and there's still a flower on it.
The compost is for sale, one million dollars u-haul it away. :)

La, I wintersowed 5 kinds of hosta last winter and have about 60 new small plants.
They did better than most of my flowers.
I am in the same zone as you and I do not have seed pods ready and even some have not formed yet. It will take a while. Just have patience. ;)
Some of my hostas do not form seed pods. It may be age related or species related, I don't know. If you don't get any pods let me know, I have more than I will ever use and can send you some. They just may not all have names. I think the ones that started out as hybrids wouldn't be like the parent anyway. I like them all even the mutts. LOL One of my favorite plants. Cyndie

Thanks Cyndie! It is very reassuring to know that I'm probably just early in my expectations.....well hopefully anyway. I'm finding it odd that until the idea of saving seed popped into my head I've never noticed what the scapes looked like after blooming. To be honest I've never even paid much attention to the blooms themselves, believing the hosta foliage to be the main show. I will definitely let you know if I have any luck.

La :D

claypa if you have any extra seeds from your mouse ear, I would love to try some. send me a d-mail :o)

Connie

Slugs may be a problem with baby seedlings, I would guess. Indoor sowing would eliminate this problem.