there is a debate whether the plantiginea would come true from seed.. since no other hosta is open in the evening to fertilize the new pollen ...

it would be worth trying to see if you would get the 6 inch flowers ...

i tried some seed long ago .. they all looked like plantiginea with the apple green shiny leaves... but life got in the way.. i let them expire.. rather than growing them on the extra year or two to see the flowers ...

i dont think i am growing any this year ....

ken

The only ones I may be growing this year may be the ones that fall to the ground in the garden,so I guess the answer would be no. I have many volunteers under my Paradigm,so I'll be keeping an eye on them next spring. Phil

Thanks Ken, I'll try them. You can never have enough Plantaginea.

Hi Phil, that's the kind of hosta I normally grow too, volunteers. I tried growing from seed in 2007, the amount that germinated was amazing, but once I potted them up they didn't do so well. The remaining babies only number about 8 or 9 out in the garden and they're really tiny. I just don't have the space or $$ for a light set up. Someday perhaps.

PIM

HA! I can barely keep myself alive over winter!

Growing hosta seeds is what keeps me active and "alive" in the winter.

I will be growing seeds, most of them are open pollenated.
Have many seeds from CTG seedlings and Dorothy Benedict seedlings.

We dont really have that much space to grow seeds, using a bathroom in the basement with shelves from Menards.

Seedling from last winter, that is blooming this week. To late for the seeds to ripen outside.

Color Fantasy seedling from 2 years ago.
I will be planting seeds from this hosta in December.

Here is a link that might be useful: Hosta Seed Growers fourm

Those are beautiful Trudy!

I have some really purple/maroon seed pods on Confetti Cup and William Lachman. Does that have any meaning?

PIM

Hi Trudy,
You grow some beauties,how does that happen?
I bought some seeds from e bay a few months ago,'Sea Gulf Stream' i know NOW, that they are probley last years seeds,i would like to buy some good seeds, and get a pretty hosta,such as yours,just for fun,yours are really pretty, thanks for the picture.
Carol

Thanks for the kind words on my seedlings.

PIM...not sure what the maroon means, if the seed pods are white and green streaked or striped, they may become streaked seedlings.

Carol....how does that happen? I planted seeds from Color Fantasy which is a streaked plant. The chances of getting a streaked plant from 'Sea Gulf Stream' is slim, but not impossible!

Good luck to you both with your seed growing :)

Yes,your seedlings are amazing,Trudy! I have some tiny seedlings (OP),from Korean Snow,which show some promise of some of them being streaked but they are so tiny,that you have to have better eyes than mine to see streaking! I'll post an update next year when they come back up. Phil

Phil, Do you do anything special to your hosta seedlings to prep them for the Winter? Like mulch them or anything? I have some from last year and I just wonder what I can do to increase their chance of survivability during the constant freeze/thaw we have here. I had a whole lot more going into Winter last year, only about 5% survived through to emerge in Spring.

PIM

"I just don't have the space or $$ for a light set up. Someday perhaps."
PIM

There are a couple of cheap ways, contact me if you like?
502-594-8363
wilddog_202@yahoo.com

My seeds are all open pollinated but I've got tons to play with for the winter. I won't start them until Feb.
Pam

Donna,no,I haven't ever done anything special for my seedlings. They just get covered up by falling leaves in the fall,and I leave the leaves on the garden all winter. Did I ever mention that I live in the woods? The leaves cover everything up,so I don't need to mulch them,and even if I ever did lose a seedling,they're free,right? Phil

Here is what we do for seedlings and minis in our shade houses during the winter.

We put cut up limbs from collected Christmas trees, after the ground is froze solid. The worst thing for small seedlings is the frost heave when the ground thaws and then freezes again in the spring. Cause the smaller roots of the seedlings to come out of the ground and to be exposed.
Don't remove the limbs until later sping, dont remember exactly maybe late March.

Here is fairly inexpensive set-up to grow seeds inside over the winter. No fancy lighting needed, just shop lights and any kind of shelving your can get your hands on. We know use zip ties to hold up the lights, instead of the roping.

I have a friend who uses 2 packages from a 24 pk of pop filled with the empty cans. He puts the lights inbetween the cartons.

Anymore questions.....feel free to ask.

I don't have any available space for the shelves. And even if I did, my dear sister pays the electric bill, there'd be all heck to pay if I had a lighted shelving unit that had to stay on 24 x 7 for hostas. As it is she thinks I have one screw loose, because of all the hostas I have. She's a dear really, just a bit hmmm, whatever.

Phil, you live in the woods. LOL! I forgot about your leaves. I'll have to cover mine up. The pine boughs and leaves sound like a good idea.

Thanks!

PIM

PS: I may try to winter sow some seeds in some containers. I have a bunch of Japanese maple seeds I want to try it with too.

I tend to think the cost of fluourescent lighting is very low. Does anyone know for sure? Also think the units last longer when they're not switched on and off frequently.

I did a cross of Inniswood and Northern Exposure this summer, still waiting for the seed pod to turn yellow, I have grown inniswood seed in the past and liked alot of what i got, thought that i would try to cross it with another hosta that i like, supposedly they are both from the Elegans progeny line thing somewhere, we will see what happens, most green ones will be grown for a couple of years and then pitched( if they dont look like anything worthy) or given away. I only do one batch of seeds per year cause there just aint no room for all of them to grow!!

as far as lights go, i use the cheapest shop lights that i can find, and suspend them from clothes line rope tide in slip knots so i can adjust the height. quite simple and cheap. all the growing is done on a short table that is 4' X 8' the size of a sheet of plywood, the lights are on for about or less than 14 hours per day. and they are only shop lights that cost about $12.00, and usually last about 3 years (some last for over 10 now!!). and that is what i use on my aquariums too!! so much cheaper than buying all those expensive and nice looking lights to hang over a tank of water that i will be the only one looking at!! (the aquariums are in the basement and you need a pass and special invitation (hopefully the watch cat wont bite you) signed by me to get down there!!)

and you dont really need to invest in any special grow light bulbs, i use "cool white" bulbs.

oh!! did i tell you? on another note!!,,,, talk about waste. I went to my local Taco Bell tonight, and bought 1 taco salad and 2 nachos bell grande (feeding 3 mouths on this episode!!) and they gave me 34 PACKS OF HOT SAUCE!! what am I going to do with 34 PACKS of hot sauce?? (yes i did count them!!) If i was buying hosta wholesale I could have got one hosta for the cost of what they just gave me!!
The cheapest hosta that i bought for wholesale was paul's glory for $6.00 and my partner at the time went thru the roof!! (or i should say the high end hosta at the time, years ago, another story when i owned a backyard nursery)

Uh.. there was a beer around here somewhere!! man uhhhhh... PHOEBE (the cat)!!! wheres my beer??

Darn, I left it on the kitchen counter and now it is probably warm!! Drat!!

LOL

Paul