Daylily from seed!

[vicki]

Ann,
Put daylily seeds in the refrigerator in moist potting soil. in ziplock bag, on March 23, removed them april 26, and now have little bitty seedlings!
:)
Unfortunately I marked on the baggie with marker and it wiped off! :( Oh well, lesson learned.! I have both br. orange that blooms twice, and small yellow that blooms for a long time. Don't know the names.
Just thought I would let you know. Thanks for the good advice.

[Ann B.]

In Northern climates where it gets freezing cold, the standard practice with day lily seeds is to harvest them, let them dry, then 6-8 weeks before the last frost stratify them as you did.

For those of you who are new to the forum and have not yet visited the Landspro main site, please click on the link below:

http://www.landspro.com/page400.htm

The subject of the above link is day lily from seed. Last year, I decided to try the 'moist vermilite in a zippered plastic bag' approach, and sure enough within 2 weeks I had 2 inch high seedlings. I planted each seedling in small pots and kept them in the back yard (north side) all winter, and they didn't even go dormant despite numerous 2 day stretches of 20 degree lows.

Now, my friends up north, please don't laugh at that last comment. As you have noticed with this past strange winter, a warm spell of 80 degree weather followed by hard freezes are not exactly easy on young perennials.

If you have the space to protect them during your winter next year, Vicki, try the fresh seed approach. It has been quite fun for me to watch them grow. They are now ready for the ground. I will be doing this again next year with all the day lily seeds that I can manage to collect.

Gee, I may even try to hand (cross) pollinate some named varieties and create my on hybrids. Won't that be fun! I can't wait to see to see the results.

Having FUN, but it sure is getting HOT here FAST!

[vicki]

Ann,
when i disovered the daylily seeds it was already into late fall, and had nowhere to protect them. the kids kept asking if they
could throw them out cause they weren't growing. i said no way we wait for 30 days, take them out wait a few days and we will have seedlings. were they surprised when they came in from shool, and i showed them. my nine yr. old, jordan thought it was so :cool:

should i make a special bed for them and the rest of the seedlings sorry no shift key for caps. or should they be potted
thanks as always,

[Ann B.]

Vicki,

It always amazes me when seeds sprout in the frig. So far, I have had rose seed, amaryllis seed and sparaxis sprout in the frig. Now, thanks to you, I know that day lilies will. What a treat!

If it were me, I would probably pot them and put them in a protected shady location where I wouldn't forget to water them. Many seedlings are lost due to lack of moisture too soon. When the roots are not thick enough to retain enough moisture during dry spells, they simply don't make it.

Mine aren't in the ground yet, but I hope they will be soon. They are truly root bound. I didn't label them because I have so many varieties, and it is no telling which one the pollen came from.

Thanks, Vicki!