Hyacinth Seeds (Not the Bean!)

15 years ago

I collected seed pods from my white hyacinths (the spring flowering bulb) in the spring when they were all shriveled up and appeared dry.

I looked up hyacinth seeds on google images, and they all look black.

When opening my seed pods today, I saw that they were white-ish seeds. Does this mean that they aren't good? Or is that how the seeds are supposed to look? I've included photos for reference. I want to know if I should stop opening the pods and just throw them out, or if they are indeed OK! Thanks :)

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (4)

remy_gw
15 years ago
Hi,
I went and looked at pics on google. The black seeds I saw are from Muscari(grape hyacinths.) So they are not the same type of plant as your Hyacinth. I've never tried to save seed from a hyacinth so I can't speak to a color they should be. I'm going to assume the seed is not dust like since all bulbs I have seen seed of are decent sized for seed. You should be able to tell what is the seed though. Seed is always hard. If everything crumbles up, you have no seed.
Remy
flora_uk
15 years ago
I have never sown hyacinth seed but I have seen the pods. Are the shrivelled things on the right what you collected as seed pods? If so I don't think you are going to have much luck. Hyacinth flowers need to be pollinated to produce seed. They will then swell up and produce green pods about the size of a large garden pea arranged up the stems where the flowers were. There are rarely as many pods as there were flowers because not all will be pollinated. These will eventually become brown, dry and papery. They will open up and the seeds will be inside. The flowers will have long fallen off by then. I am afraid the shrivelled flowers in your photo don't look to me as if they have been fertilised.

I can't find a picture of hyacinth seed pods but the link shows bluebell pods which are slightly similar. They are still green but will go brown and dry later.

This link tells you about growing hyacinths from seed. http://www.doityourself.com/stry/hyacinth-growing-from-seeds

Here is a link that might be useful: similar seed pods
Related Professionals
Cherry Hill Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Fall River Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Rolla Landscape Contractors · Fayetteville Landscape Contractors · Spartanburg Landscape Contractors · Burlington Landscape Contractors · Fall River Landscape Contractors · Willmar Landscape Contractors · Sanford Landscape Contractors · Queens Landscape Contractors · Bainbridge Decks, Patios & Outdoor Enclosures · Morgan City Decks, Patios & Outdoor Enclosures · Aiken Decks, Patios & Outdoor Enclosures · Carson City Decks, Patios & Outdoor Enclosures · Spokane Decks, Patios & Outdoor Enclosures
siichan
15 years ago
I agree with flora_uk. I harvested hyacinth seeds this summer. They have fat round-ish black seeds. What you have are not the seed pods, sorry :(
countrycarolyn
15 years ago
I had looked at your pictures when you first posted this question and to me it looked like what you collected had not been pollinated and you were maybe collecting the flower head itself and not the seed.

Well I hand pollinated all of my larger hyacinths this spring and out of 50 blooms I have 5 seed pods. This plant here has 4 and then I have another plant that has 1 pod and this is out of maybe 15 plants. So I am thinking this is a hard little plant to pollinate.

Here is a picture of the seed pods on my plant this picture was taken today. Now I will leave the pods on the plant till they turn crisp and brown and maybe a little translucent looking.

I hope this helps some!!