The 'butterscotch chips' are probably Japanese iris seed. That's what they look like here when they are harvested.

If you have some wrinkled darker ones about the size of a bb, those are bearded.

The other blacker ones are probably siberian.

Since you live in MN, I hardly know what to tell you to get them to sprout. I already have sprouts of bearded and beardless.

The Japanese should be the easiest to sprout. Soak them overnight in water and plant them in pots. Keep the soil moist and in the sunshine and see what happens.

Walter Moores

Thanks for the help- do I need to soak the bearded and siberian seeds too or should I just put them in some soil?

I have never soaked any seed, but a lot of people do. There is a trick with pantyhose and the commode tank, which I would never do.

Since it is so late in the season to plant, I might give them a soak.

Maybe a soaker will speak up and give you better advice.

Walter Moores

Back of the toilet tank works good. Kind of imitates the spring rains and snow melt. Washes away the germination inhibitors in the shell. I usually plant a flat in the fall and leave it outside for the winter. Easier.
I brought one flat in last week after being outside all winter and now I'm waiting to see something sprout. I've done it before where I've had a full 2 years spread on germination of the same flat. The first sprouters were blooming while the last were just sprouting.

I have read about the toilet tank thing- I'm just soaking and rinsing mine every couple days. If I have any seeds this fall I'll try putting them in flats outside for the winter. I have alot of space to fill so I guess any new sprouts I get are helpfull. I also have a mother-in-law with a small yard who over-buys every year. I take all her extras.

My advice is to plant them as soon as you harvest them and grow them over the winter to give them a head start .Some soak them in cold( room temperature ) tea over night but I do not .I have a low germination rate however . They grow slowly so it will take a year before they are big enough to tell from the weeds . They take 3 years to bloom from seed good luck .

Here is a thread on planting seeds.

Walter Moores

Walter you blew it! No link silly.

I got bearded iris seed (along with some Siberian) on ebay. I like the idea of planting them in a pot and leaving them outside for the winter. That way the snow and the rain and the freezing temps will take care of process for me.

I am more patient than I used to be. I don't like the idea of the toilet method. There are bacteria in there so I keep chlorine tablets in the tank. That won't do the seeds any good!

I will just plant the wild Siberian in the ground next to the adult plants I have in the fall.

I did grow some from seed two years ago but so far I have not seen them come up yet. I was hoping to see them bloom this year. But it looks like the grim reaper got them.

Darn him to hell. But I am still holding out hope. Its still early for CTÂs weak sun.

mccommas,

No link was intended.

Somebody asked about starting seeds right after it had been discussed.

I told them to look below at some threads where starting seeds were discussed. They said they couldn't find them.

I just bumped three of those threads back to the top so they could see them. Therefore, there was no need for a link. I thought that was the easiest way to do it. I am sorry my advice was not helpful to you.

Walter Moores

I have some irises that produced what appear to be seed pods, however, I have made no attempt to hybridize them. the pods look like pictures of seed pods I have seen at various places on the internet. I will be happy to send pictures of my irises. Any advice and info is appreciated.
Thank you

Hi,
Can the outer shell be nicked to allow water to hydrate the endosperm?

Good day,
intercessor

Are you talking about seed/pods from this season or a previous season? I don't think any pod currently on a stalk in my garden is mature enough to do anything to it but protect is from rot and critters. Any hole in the pod 'shell' would be an open door for rot or critters.

If the seeds are from a previous season, they would have to be soaked for a long time to be nicked.

Louisiana hybridizers harvest seeds when the pods are yellow and the seeds still soft. Some nick the seed but I have never had better germination doing that.

Just put the soft seeds in a pot in the shade and they'll sprout in two months. They don't need any cold weather to sprout.

I've had LA seeds sprout in compost.

Walter Moores

I just cut back my Irisis as the flowers are done blooming. I have the dried flower with the seed pod seperated from the stalk. What do I do now. I read the white seeds inside are not yet viable. Send advice please.
The post above this says te soft seed will sprout, are you talking about planting the whole pod or opening it and taking out the tiny seeds.

Jimmy.
I think the soft seed and nicking is referring to Louisiana Iris seeds.
Yours (if TB) should have been left on the stalk until they turned brown and started to crack open. About all you can do now is leave the seeds inside the pods and wait until they dry, once the pod is dry, you can take the seeds out and store until fall. Hopefully by the time that the pods are dry, the seeds will have matured and turned tan or a little brown.
Yes, the white seeds will not be viable.

Jimmy, you should have left the bearded iris seed on the stalk until the pod begins to split open at the seams. Harvest and bring indoors to dry in styrofoam cups. Shell the pod and stir it periodically for uniform drying.

It is Louisiana iris seed that you plant before they dry out.

Depending on the age/development of the bearded seed at the time you cut them, you may or may not get germination.

Walter Moores

OOPS. Thanks for the info. I will do better next year. As it is I transplanted this plant 3 years ago as a tiny little half burried thing when we moved into this home. Last year I got 3 stems and about 5 flowers. This year it came up in two spots, one with 8 stems the other with about 13 stems, there were about 40 huge beautiful blooms. I did manage to save, and am in the process of drying out some giant seed pods.

Thanks again!

Hello,
I started my seeds inside with the great instructions provided on the Canadian Iris Society website (http://www.cdn-iris.ca/) then click on articles. It works great, however, it doesn't tell you what you should do when the treatment doesn't work. Case in point. I have seed from a bee pod of Wind Rose SDB that underwent the rinsing, storing cool and damp and then room temperature treatment that refuses to have even one seed sprout so far. They have been out of the fridge for two weeks now and I have been checking them every 3 or 4 days. All of the other seed lots have started or completed germination except this one and one other whose name escapes me right at the moment. Any suggestions as to what to try now? Would it be fatal to put them back into the fridge for awhile and then out again? Help!
BJ in SW MB, Canadian Prairies

plantaddict487,
The seeds may not even be viable, it happens all the time where none from a pod will ever germinate.
At this point, I'd say they need more warmth and sunshine.
I guess it wouldn't hurt by sticking them back in the fridge, but I don't see what you'll gain.

Thanks, randy ca, I thought that was probably the case. I think I will just pot them all up and keep them cool and damp for now and then put them outside when the weather warms up. I have enough seedlings to keep me busy for the rest of the winter. Thanks for the advice.

BJ in SW MB
P. S. I visited your future introductions page and am amazed at the flounces and horns, very nice!

BJ,
Sometimes if it is a real good cross and they don't germinate the first year, I'll hold them over in the pot for another year and may get a few sprouts, but it's not worth it for a bee pod. If you do dump this soil someday, put it off to the side somewhere and don't use the soil for other seeds, because you may end up with a mixture if the old seeds decide to germinate.

I have been checking them every 3 or 4 days Lol, sounds familiar.
Wait till they are in bud, it'll be every hour or less.

P.S. I visited your future introductions page and am amazed at the flounces and horns
Thank you for looking at the seedlings. Spaceagers are my main thing right now.
If anybody would like to see what we're talking about, click on my name or my page, and click the link to geocities.

I just found this thread while searching to find what to do with some iris seeds I received for fun.
Regarding your introductions... I love all of them, but especially Sdlg 3-73! I'm a sucker for those color combinations in plants! Just wondering if & where you introduce your intros?
Thanks!