Have you thought about doing it inside?

Hi there John-
I might not have the information you are asking for, but I will share what I know with you.
I have started Hosta indoors and have wintersown them. Indoors is quickest- and seed seem to not need a cold period before germination- at least mine did not when started indoors.
Wintersowing is a method of sowing seed outdoors in "mini green houses" of slightly modified recycled containers in the dead of winter. It affords the ease of sowing out doors, no need to water- no bugs in the house- no $ for heat and light- With the added bonus of protection from hungry critters- slugs- wash out from rain and many other lurking dangers. There is a forum here at GW with many EAGER folks just waiting to tell you more about this method.
I like both methods- but best results in my experience have been with wintersowing- I usually get a black fly problem indoors- and the little fly "babies" wreak havoc with the new hosta roots...
Either way- I like to get the jump on the growth by starting hosta seeds in the winter.
I have noticed in several gardens that Elgens and a few others will routinely self seed. Could that be any easier??
For seed, I recommend that you check out your yard- check out your neighbors yard (with permission...)- check out the seed exchange forum- possibly post in the exchange part of this forum- and keep an eye on the Round Robin forum. This time of year folks are gearing up to send many seeds all across the country in group exchanges on that forum.
Have a GREAT time starting your new baby hosta!! They are so cute- even from the start! It is fun watching them grow and watching for signs of change as they mature.
Enjoy-
Julie

I have had good luck just sowing the seeds in a pot in the spring. And,don't forget,hostas seeds come up near the parent plant just from falling off the seed pods naturally. I have lots of "volunteers" near some of my hostas. Just a few thoughts for you to ponder! Phil

There is a lot of valuable info at the Hosta Library.

Scroll down to Seed Growing....there are links for indoor and outdoor seed growing.

Also there is a link to the Seed Growers forum that has info also.

This is just my guess:
that there may be some hosta seeds for sale at the Hosta Library Auction later when everyone has harvested their seeds. There are many hybridizers who will have some very nice seeds. Bob Axemear usually has some kind of f1 Dorothy Benedict seeds for sale. He usually does this on Ebay, but this year, he may sale them on the Hosta Library......this is just an example of the kind of seeds that could possibly be for sale, or check out Ebay for hosta seeds.

Good luck....hosta seed growing in a very fun hobby.
Very rewarding having your own seedlings in your garden.
Here are some of mine.

Here is a link that might be useful: Hosta Library

hey john

whats your goal in growing them?????

are you aware they do NOT come true from seed???? and more importantly .. do you care ... lol

ken

Trudy,
Those are just beautiful!!!!
Do you know what parent they come from?
I winter sowed for the first time last year,Loved it, it was so much fun.
I remember you. :0),and thank you again.
Carol

Carol...in the upper left is a seedling of Christmas Tree Gala and the bottom right is a seedling of a f1 Dorothy Benedict seedling. The seedlings shown are two years old.
Thanks for the kind words.

Ops....the upper left is a seedling of a f1 Dorothy Benedict seedling also.

I have tried growing seeds indoors and via winter sowing. I had much more success with the winter sowing method. Plus it was a lot easier. Just one winter day of planting hosta seeds in my homemade greenhouses (I used soda and water bottles), and then they were moved outside and forgotten about until spring.
Jen

Here is a link that might be useful: Winter Sowing

Thanks for the advice. Ken - I'm mainly looking for a way to cover areas that can't be mowed on my parents property- between closely spaced trees. I've killed off the grass. Have planted some by dividing, but have several more areas to fill.

John