Re: Seed Pods & Flower Scapes


Barbara,

You made a good observation about the seed pods on H. 'Great
Expectations'. The color of the seed pod generally carries the color
of the center of the leaf. H. 'Great Expectations' has creamy colored
centers, therefore it has creamy colored scapes and creamy colored
pods. You would expect it to have creamy colored seedlings and it
does (if I remember correctly from what came up last winter...but not
ALL, I did get a very nice blue seedling). So, look to the center of the
leaf to get an idea of what color seedlings you will most likely get.
Seeds from H. 'Summer Music' came up all creamy/white and promptly
wilted and died as no chlorophyll was present to sustain growth.
Seedlings from H. 'On Stage' are very light green/gold but they seem to
grow quite nicely. The second flush of growth is the palest of yellow,
almost white. Likewise, hostas with a nice creamy variegated edge and
green centers will give you green seedlings. If you want streaky seedlings
that will eventually become marginally or medio variegated, you need a
hosta that is streaky in the center of the leaf. If you look closely at the
stems, you will see what look like "strings" of green and white going down
the stem. These will show up on the flower scapes and then onto the
seed pods. These streaky seed pods will produce streaked seedlings.
Some hostas which are not considered to be streaky pod parents will
occasionally send the marginal variegation into the center of the leaf and
down the stem (actually it occurs just the opposite, it just looks that 
way).
These streaked stems have the potential to produce variegated seed pods
and then streaked seedlings. So, look closely at your common hosta
varieties and you may find streaked scapes occasionally. Those seed pods
are the ones that you would want to harvest and plant for something
potentially interesting.

Thanks!

Norm Lesch
Manchester, MD


 ----------
From: Barbara & Morris
To: hosta-open@mallorn.com
Subject: Re: Seed Pods & Flower Scapes
Date: Wednesday, July 22, 1998 8:02AM

Thank you Norm!
The branched scapes are on my "Sum and Substance"( a very interesting look).
One of my "Great Expectations" has produced seed pods that are a very pale
yellow color, which I found unusual, since all others seem to be green.  I
think mainly from some of your discussions, my eyes have been opened to
flowers and seeds, so for the very first time I am taking a close look and
discovering all this.
Thanks again,
Barbara

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