One suggestion: Plant only as many as you can manage. Is "all or nothing" really necessary?

Another suggestion, and no, I have never tried this before but if I did want to germinate hundreds of seeds, I would give it serious thought: Create a space in your garden (till it first) then spread a starting medium over it and just plant the seeds as though you were planting therm indoors. I recently started a bunch of seeds I harvested last year and I had good success with a seed starter mix I bought at a local garden center. Nothing at all fancy and all went perfectly. Given the time of year it is, you don't need to warm them or give then light - mother nature will take care of that.

I don't know how well it shows in the photo I have linked, but most of those little cups are chock full of seeds. Even if I do all the seeds I can handle this year, I am worried that some of the different types will be lost.

I've no answer for you,but I have the same problem. I can try to plant just a couple from each cross, but I'm afraid the one that I don't plant would be the perfect daylily. I do start mine directly in the ground usually, on the assumption that the strongest will grow to maturity. I do nothing else to them, unless I fertilize a bit with miracle gro when they are a few weeks up. I usually plant several hundred seeds, seems like at least 75% of them germinate. Once they germinate, they seem to make it to maturity. Most of those that bloom are nice enough, just nothing spectacular. Still, I've gotten a few that I am very happy with.

Here's what I would recommend, and it's based on 10-15 years experience. I plant all seeds from a cross together in pots. From small pots to 3 gal. Depends on how many seeds I have from a particular cross. But I limit the number of seeds to about 25 max./pot. Here's 3 pots of seedlings that are about ready to transplant. I don't direct sow. I've had bad luck doing it that way. Weeds sprout and grow much faster than the daylilies, so you're continually trying to weed but not harm your daylilies, plus critters take a toll on the seeds as well.

Prepare your seedling bed and then transplant the seedlings. I use 6 inch spacing between plants and rows. Here's a bed of seedlings I just finished planting. Need to mulch one side. Mark your seedlings by cross consistently in each bed. I plant front to back, and left to right. Marker in front of each cross.

It takes a year or 2, sometimes 3 for good bloom from the seedlings. I wait 2 good bloom cycles to make final selection from them and then cull the ones not selected. Here's a small bed of 2nd bloom cycle plants. This bed will be cleaned and new seedlings planted in the fall.

You can save every plant at this stage, but you will have lots of plants and some that aren't that pretty or good. Depending on how much room you have, save the best plants. The ones that have good proportions, clear colors, clean foliage and lots of blooms. Ones that tolerate the storms and are strong and vigorous. I think really, only one plant would be enough to remember your friend, and I would want it to be a good one. Good luck. Ed