So is everybody here hybridizing?

Not me; I just love reading and looking at what people are doing. I just love hostas!

We are dabbing a few.

Gary

You are dabbing a few?!?!? How many hundreds did you and Kit have growing in the basement last winter? LOL

hahaha!! Funny Gary! Considering that I have 22 of your little "rejects" -- which I love and am babying like they were gold.

I would love to try but I need to have a "dabbling" session with Kit and Gary before I try my hand at it.

Hi everyone,
I started to play around a couple of winters ago. I looks like I have all solids but I have two venusta types that are in bloom as we speak. I was surprised because this is only their second year and there so tiny. - dash

It's still early but I don't think we will grow quite as many as we did last year. That could be subject to change when the cold weather in November has a way of stroking that itch. We will definitely be a little more willing to cull this time though.

Gary

I know this is an old thread, but I thought I'd revisit it.

After trying my hand at growing a few seeds I got from Chris at Hallson's (and getting at least one, and maybe two, streakers from the batch of 15 seeds) I think I may just give hybridizing, of a sort, a whirl this year.

I was reading a writeup about the late Mildred Seaver and was inspired by how she said she hybridized by letting nature do all the work--she cut the flower scapes off the "uninteresting" hostas she didn't want to breed and let the bees spread the pollen elsewhere, then collected the seeds from the pod parents. I have 'Christmas Tree Gala' (a streaked breeder) and I'll probably use Mildred's technique and see what she produces this fall.

Good Luck. It will be interesting to see how it goes. I enjoy seeing what you all come up with when hybridizing.