Yes, they can. Soemtimes they reproduce truly from seed and sometimes they don't. I have yet to get a WS daylily that has blooms I didn't like so I dn't care if they're not all exact duplicates of the parent plant. For the most part, they have begun to bloom a couple of years after transplant.

T

Ditto what Trudi said. I only WS them once but they germinated, grew and bloomed the second year. They don't need cold stratification, however. I've also grown them from seed by just tossing the seeds in a large Ziploc baggie with barely-damp Perlite. Set the baggie in a sunny window and had sprouts 14 days later. 12 seeds produced 12 very cute sprouts so germination rate with this method was 100%.

I got some daylily seeds from the seed exchange last winter. A poster who crosses her own, and even sells her seed on the Lily Auction, offered the seed because she didn't keep track of the parentage.

Some people winter-sow, some sow "on the rocks", some under lights. I sowed them in Cup O noodles cups on April 23rd, about 3-4 seeds per cup, and put them outside along the foundation of the house with the other tender seedlings. They did great and germinated nearly 100% during the first week of May.

I lost a few out in the garden but the remainder are now robust little plants. Hope I get some blooms next year.

{{gwi:234710}}

Awesome! Last time I WSed daylily seeds saved from my own garden. I tossed all the seeds into a jar and mixed them and then sowed a flat with all of them. Not all sprouted but a good many did. I think some of my daylilies produce infertile seed and that accounts for the ones that didn't sprout. But the ones that came up were very hardy. They were planted out via HOS, so next year I think I may have some lovely mixed clumps to enjoy.

BTW, you can do hostas with Winter Sowing too.

T--who loves hostas with an equal passion to tomatoes ;-)

Trudi - I diligently waited for my uncle's hosta seeds to ripen. I finally got them and have enough that I have three large No. 10 envelopes full!

Daylillies are also one of my other favorites to WS. I have gotten almost 100% germination every time.

Hosta seeds are a wonderful thing. They have the odd appearance of looking like black fly wings, but the wing shape is something that helps them twirl away from the parent plant.

Hostas will sprout well with or without cold stratification. This past summer I found a lost tray of hosta seeds in the attic, I don't remember if they were from the very past season or well before that. So I took a chance and sowed them all in a big patio planter. They were not fast to sprout but after about a month I was seeing some green seedlings. I'm now in the process of transplanting them into a shade bed. Most of them seem to be from one plant, but gosh knows which one, because the are all similar and large, so those are being transplanted first and then after that I'll transplant the smaller ones. I have no clue as to their adult appearance as they can develop their true leaf colors over a few years, so best now to plant them by similarities and deal with the developing differences later on. Anyway, I think it's kinda nifty to get a hundred or so hostas for free!

I've not yet experimented with crossing DLs or Hostas, or even tomatoes, I'm just not into it. I'm happy to let Mother Nature carry on and do her thing by herself. The joy of growing hostas and daylilies from seed is that they have so much hybridization that you can expect that there will be some variation in the seedlings once they grow and flower. I've been scolded by 'experts' that the seedlings won't come true but HECK YAH!, that's what it's all about--having all those different leaves and blooms. Once upon a time I could (and have) dropped a full paycheck on a hosta order, but once I started growing from seeds I found the results much more pleasing (and I kept my wallet closed too).