When a mommy and daddy really love on another...

Sorry, couldn't resist after I read the thread title.

The pods have the seed inside them. Leave them on to mature and harvest before they split open and seed the ground below the scapes. The Hosta Library has some nice details under the Hybridizing link on the front page. There is a picture of the seeds below.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:1082357}}

ok, HERE'S THE DEAL, REGARDING SEEDILINGS, AFAIK,

Yor Hosta blooms. Bees (ALL SORTS THEM, here there are at least 8 variety's of them here).

So now when yor Hosta's bloom, often for weeks on end, these pollinators d0 spread pollen, so who is the pod or pollen parent?

Ask the professional hybridizers, how they keep the bees out of their hybridizining programs, it makes interesting reading and explainig why we should appreciate the work they do, and be willing to spend the $ we do for what we get.

fwiw,

hh

IF you are getting seed pods, you are really fortunate. This year I have I think three plants in my garden which set seedpods.

Sugar And Cream, Stephen King, and Beet Salad. And wow, the Beet Salad pods are reddish purple!!!!

Then I got a couple of fragrant hosta which arrived from Wade & Gatton with very tall scapes which had seedpods! One is Buckwheat Honey.

It is so exciting to get the pods from the garden, much better than ordering a bag of seed--at least it makes me feel like a participant in the creation of new life.

Hope you enjoy your seed growing this winter, a little off season hosta dreaming.

I gave followed the growth of hostas in my garden for several years and of course the rates vary depending on sunlight and moisture and soil conditions. But most small hostas bought with 2-3 eyes seem to take 3-5 years to really set seed pods. Though they may have a scape or two early, those scapes don't seem to set pods - I am not a botanist so this is just an observation and it may not be fully accurate.

This year I have perhaps two dozen mature hostas that have set seedpods. In the past, I have never done anything with them as the pollen donor is obviously unknown. I also do not have the patience to grow hundreds of seedlings and cull them down to one or two plants that might (but probably aren't) special.

Beet Salad seed pods crossed with Miss Linda Smith, Miss Grace, Foxfire Bamm Bamm, Fire Island, and selfed.

Steve

I'm not really interested in taking care of seedlings over the winter, or anything like that. (Haven't evolved to that level of hosta gardening yet) Just wondering if I would naturally get any seedlings growing in my garden since I have seed pods. And when would I see them sprouting? Will they overwinter and grow next year? Those kind of questions.

If you leave the seed pods on your Hosta until they open on their own, they will spill the seeds. You probably will get some to germinate next Spring. If you're too fastidious about weeding you might eliminate them. If not then you will probably get some seedlings. 95% or more of seeds that are bee pollinated are self pollinated. In other words if you have seeds that germinated underneath Elegans, then it's likely to be Elegans as the pollen donor as well as the pod parent. Amost all of seedlings that are germinated in this way will be green.

Steve

Agreed. If you leave the seed pods over the winter, you WILL have seedlings. Probably more than you want.

Last week, I gave away about 3 dozen from around my Blue Cadet this year.

We wait until the seed pods turn dark, then harvest and store in a dry place way so they don't mold, then plant very shallow and keep moist until they germinate and sprout.

That easy.

hh

If I want to save seeds,I wait until they are dry and starting to split open,and just collect them. You can save them in a paper bag,until spring,then just plant them in pots,or sow them on bare ground,and stir the soil a little until they are just below the surface. They take about ten days to open. As Steve said,if you just leave them to open on their own,there will be seedlings just below the mother plant. One more thing,if the seeds are black,or dark brown,then they are fertile seeds. If white,then they are sterile. Some plants are sterile,and even though they flower,they will not ever set seed pods. This is probably TMI,but you asked! Phil

HostaHosta, this is my experience with seedlings.

I started my hosta gardens in 2007 and removed the scapes from my hostas after they flowered. During the winter of 2010/2011 I allowed all the scapes on my hostas to overwinter on the plants because of the potential for spreadimg HVX if I cut them off.

To my surprise in the spring of 2011, I found little hosta seedlings (two leaves) around Frosted Dimples. They were either all green or all yellow, elongated and with pointy tips. In the vicinity were also Salute, Dream Queen,Touch of Class and Blue Mouse Ears. I allowed the seedlings to overwinter in the ground during the 2011/2012 winter. Most survived. They all had long pointed leaves like Salute. I was exited about the seedlings because all the hostas around these seedlings were ones that I really liked. I was sort of hoping I had gotten a cross with Blue Mouse Ears.

I was going to move the seedlings to another location once they had produced more leaves but with the hot summer and drought we've had I did not get around to doing this, so this winter I'm leaving them where they are because I don't think they will have time to become established. Some of the green seedlings appear to be more blue now. I plan to move all the seedlings to a new location in the ground next spring.

Yesterday, I went out and documented whether my hostas..
1. had produced seed pods
2. had dried flower stalks (potentially a pollen parent, I believe)
3. were blooming (will monitor to see if pods form)
4. had not bloomed

Of the hostas that I mentioned above:

Frosted Dimples had seed pods
Dream Queen had dried scapes
Salute had seed pods
Touch of Class was still blooming
Blue Mouse Ears had no dried scapes but I can't believe it didn't bloom because it's a really mature plant.

I wish I had been more observant, so that I can determine the parentage of the seedlings. There are now seedlings (two leaves) under Frosted Dimples which are smaller, green and have a more rounded shape like Frosted Dimples.

Would I be correct in assuming that the blue seedlings with elongated, pointy tips have Salute as the pod parent and the smaller green ones with the rounded tips under Frosted Dimples have Frosted Dimples as the pod parent.

The bees are very busy in my hosta beds. I've noticed that new seedlings have sprung up near Dancing Queen (has pods) and Deep Pockets (has pods). They probably germinated from last year's seeds. Whee, Blue Hawai, Big Daddy, Fragrant Blue, all together in another bed, have seed pods. Next spring should be interesting.

I hope someone with more experience with seedlings can answer some of my questions , so I can cull some of these seedlings in the spring.

Do seedlings show variegation from the outset or does variegation develop with maturity?

Do yellow seedlings ever turn into blue seedlings?

I would appreciate knowing whether my assumptions are correct. Thanks for taking the time to read...

That's a good idea, I will let the seed pods on more choice plants open up this year, distribute with the wind and let the seedlings grow naturally, then cull plain looking ones. I have some great seeds in my freezer from last year, will use them only to grow under lights this winter. That will be an easy winter!

Yellow seedlings stay yellow, blue seedlings stay blue.
I grew streaked seedlings the last 8 months, threw out the greenies. Streaked plants are generally unstable and will settle into plain colors or variegated plants after several years. I have no experience if and when solid color seedlings show variegations.
Bernd

AWESOME, Irawon. Another thing to bring excitement when the hosta start pipping in the springtime.

I have scapes with seeds on
Stephen King
Beet Salad (red pods)
Sugar and Cream
Buckwheat Honey (arrived from Wade Gatton with the pods)
and one other new fragrant one I don't recall, must look at it again.

But I am interested in getting new fragrant hosta seedlings. I'd be a happy camper if I can make my own fragrant ones. So far none of my plantaginea major players produced any pods. Cannot figure what that is all about. Unless it is due to the amount of rain we had.
I cannot let the pods stay on the plants because they are going to be sitting in pine bark and the seeds would not germinate and survive on such a mix. I have some small pots to start seedlings, and plan to use them.

I forget who it was who loves passiflora, but I must have a ton of those seedlings all in the back forty hosta area, they are everywhere. How did I miss them!! The major bloomer last year was the red passion vine, but none of the seedlings have bloomed YET. Thank heaven they are not KUDZU.

Bernd and Moccasin, thanks for your answers. I think during this hot , arid summer many of the blooms dried before the bees had a chance to pollinate them. In total , so far I have pods on 60 varieties of hosta. In the end I think it's a matter of happenstance as to which hostas in my garden the bees decide to pollinate.

Moccasin, some of the seedlings germinated through pine needles and the debris squirrels dropped from spruce trees as they munched on the spruce cones.

I bought a passion vine this spring but for some reason it produced only one flower all summer.

Here is a website with articles about hosta seeds and seedlings. Bernd

Here is a link that might be useful: hosta seeds and seedling advice

Thanks for the link, Bernd. The article on deciding as to which seedlings to cull was very helpful. Good luck with the seedlings you start indoors.

If you leave the seed pods on the hosta to ripen naturally, you will likely get seedlings. Hosta seedling are all through my hosta gardens, because I don't cut the seedheads off. Remove the ones that bore you, keep the ones that interest you and away you go. Mine turn out deep green, blue or yellow. The same hosta will often produce all three colours. Some of the blues I have collected remain the best blues in the gardens.

ninamarie, I have H. 'Blue Umbrellas' and 'Elegans' spreading their seeds and was surprised about one very blue seedling this spring, will watch that one.
While I planted my 30 seedlings from pots yesterday, I noticed that nearly all my empty spaces are gone, no reason to buy any. And those seedlings will become big.
Bernd