Hyacinth seed pods: some advice please

John Tock from Illinois emailed me to ask the following:

I have Hyacinths. I think they are very beautiful. BUT when the flowers die off, they leave what looks like seed pods. Are these seed pods or not? If they are seed pods, when do I pick them, and how deep do I plant them? As I am a senior, I cannot afford to buy more. The seeds, if that is what they are, would be a blessing to me.

Now, I think I know the answer to this: the seeds can be sown and, given time, the plants will develop bulblets and then flower. I know there will be some far more knowledgeable gardeners reading this who will know if I am correct, and can also tell John how and when to plant the seeds ... if you can help add your comments below.

Comments

[Patrick]

Hyacinths are grown from bulbs, and if there are any seeds in the seed pods they will probably be sterile and won't grow. In fact, it's better to cut off the flower heads after they bloom, so they will put energy into developing stronger bulbs instead of trying to go to seed.

The climate in Illinois is a little colder that what's ideal for hyacinths,
but if you are a little lucky the bulbs will divide in the ground. You can then dig them up and plant the divisions separately to make more plants.

Because of the cold climate it's also possible the bulbs will lose their vitality, stop growing after a few years and won't divide.

[Rita in Wisconsin]

The question was in reference to climbing Hyacinth beans which DO grow well when seeds are harvested from the pods. Let pods mature on the vine, Dry pods inside until very brittle. Open and shell beans for next year! I usually store in the freezer. They are one of my favorites summer plants.

[Lea in Louisiana]

I have a climbing hyacinth on a trellis (no longer visible) on the north side of my house and it has been a pleasure beyond belief. At first, it grew very rapidly and attached itself to the trellis with its purple tendrils. It had beautiful fragile-looking leaves(they're not). Within three weeks the hyacinths were blooming and the hummingbirds were feasting. I love to watch them from my kitchen window.

In any event, they are not bulb plants (John Tock must be referring to its distant cousin, the tiny grape hyacinth that blooms in the spring with other bulb plants.

I was given some seedpods and, in April I removed the seeds from the pods and germinated them between two wet paper towels out in the sun for three or four days (nearly all of them germinated!). Voila! I planted 6 or 8 of them. It is August 9th and this plant is still amazing. We're in a genuine drought and I have picked around fifty dried seedpods so far and it is producing much new growth! It looks like we may end up with around 500 seeds or more, we are thinking of planting them on the barbed wire fence along one side of our property next year. I can't even imagine how magnificent that could be.

Remember, seeds not bulbs...

[Betty]

I have a bean hyacinth growing on my wire fence it is just beautiful and loaded with tons of pods, however some pods it doesn't feel like any seeds are in them will they ever get any or are they about done?

[Gerald S]

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