There is another post 'CREATING A HOMESTEAD DAYLILY 101' further down that should answer a few of your questons.

Lrae

1. 100%....daylilies do not come true from seed. There's a lot of genetic material to work with.

2. Daylilies are not lilies, so you're talking apples and oranges. You can obviously breed among lilies (Orienpets, for example, are Orientals x Trumpets).

3. People do this many ways (many threads on this). Some people do direct sow, some let them dry for a bit and then refrigerate. Many of us get much pleasure from growing seedlings during the winter (many threads on this).

It can take two years, as a general rule...although I have some this year that will be their third year (and I am eagerly awaiting first blooms). Some of this, I think, may depend on your cultural practices, i.e., how well you take care of them. I have learned a lot, in this my third year of growing seedlings. I think I've gotten better each year.

If you have a greenhouse, you can have bloom sooner. Some parts of Florida see bloom in nine months (the rest of us wish we could!...see information on Dayliy Mecca, Northern Mecca, etc. for hybridizers with daylilies to amaze you). Also, some have figured out ways to have bloom in less than two years (can be a lot of effort)...see threads on that. I think "Bruce and Tanya" (forgive me for not using your user name) had one on how they're managed in less than two years.

There should be tons on information you can search for on this forum. Of course, sometimes it can be hard to pull up unless you ask for it just the right way!

Good luck and welcome to a fun hobby. There are lots of folks here (and elsewhere) who enjoy talking, sharing information and, naturally, sharing pictures.

Since you are in Georgia (as I am), unless you are in the northeastern mountains, if the seeds germinate and are planted in the spring, you should see many of them bloom the following spring. This can depend on the amount of sunshine and water they receive, and if you're lucky, there might even be one or two that surprise you with a bloom in October of the first year. Don't expect that, but it is great when it happens.
I'll only say what happens with my crop of seedlings. Of those planted in 2006, about 75% bloomed last year. I planted a lot more seeds last spring than in 2006, and so far I can see that about two-thirds already have scapes, and some even started blooming last week. The others have a lot of time left this year, so I think I will have 80+% of the 2007 seedlings bloom the first time this year. Several of them are already 2-3 fans.

Larry - near Augusta, GA

First names are fine with us...we feel badly that we haven't printed out the thread on names behind the user names. 8-0

Yes it is somewhat time consuming to grow indoors, but what else are you going to do in the Winter. Besides it kinda nice to see GREEN when everything else is white or brown.

The reason we do this is we are trying to establish some good plants of our own breeding to hybridize with. We will probably do this 1 or 2 more years as by then we will have 2- 2,500+ seedlings to look at every year. This year we also planted another 1,200+ seeds in the Spring.

Really planting the indoor seedlings in the Spring goes rather quick now that we streamlined the process somewhat. We don't even harden them off anymore. Yes the folage does die off, but in just a 7-8 days "hardened" folage starts growing.

Being in Georgia you can probably plant seeds in the ground as they ripen, put a short cold frame around them for the little winter you get and have a good chance at 9-10 month bloom. Just our thoughts, but that's what we'd try.

FWIW

Here is a link that might be useful: Photos 2007 of seeds started in Nov 2006 indoors

Thanks for all the info!

I do have a 10' tall homemade greenhouse made from construction plastic and wood. I made it to hold moisture for cuttings and propagating seeds but it is not winter proof. I have started seedling in my basement under lights before and have done well, so I guess I can move them there when winter comes. Would that help develope the blooms sooner?

I too love growing things indoors when cold weather comes otherwise I get somewhat depressed. I hate winter!

Also how long do the seeds need to dry out before planting?

How often do natural crosses turn out to be something pleasing to the eyes?

Thank again for all the great info! I have read tons of stuff on the Internet but some questions were still unasnwered and I came here and got just the info I needed!

Some people don't let them dry out...some let them dry from one day to several days. Just for grins, if you read the listings for seeds for sale on the LA, you'll see that people do it different ways.

As to what is pleasing to the eye...that is very subjective indeed. When you see your first ones bloom, it is exciting no matter what. It is not easy to get something really special (hence the high prices on intros).

If you haven't joined the AHS, you should consider it. Lots of good information is shared. There's an email robin that's a wealth of information that you can join. A number of hybridizers participate.

Here is a link that might be useful: AHS