"John McGaw" wrote in message
...
I know that there are frequent questions about the possibility/advisabilty
of raising daffodils from seed. And the answer usually is "yes you can but
the bulbs are so cheap why would you bother to wait years for flowers from
seeds?" Well, my question is a parallel but involves hyacinths. I planted
some fairly pricey bulbs from a local garden center last autumn and the
flowers this spring were spectacular. I'd like to have more of them but at
over $2 per bulb I'm not going to buy too many more. But a large number of
the flowers set seed and have large seedpods now. What would be the
process
of harvesting and planting the seeds? I realize that it may be several
years
before anything comes of it but I'd like to try it as much to satisfy my
curiosity as to save $20 for a couple more bags of bulbs. TIA
--

What did you find outstanding in the bulbs you bought as compared to others?
The price you paid doesn't necessarily indicate that the bulbs were rare.
There may be a better strategy for getting more hyacinths with less work and
at far less than $2 each. First, I find that spring flowering bulbs go on
clearance in November to make way for seasonal merchandise and because most
people who are going to buy bulbs have already made their purchases. Last
year I bought a large number of bulbs at 75% to 90% off. I have planted
bulbs as late as New Year's Day with good luck in my zone 6 garden. Rather
that screw around trying to germinate seeds and then baby-sit them, you
might be better off looking for a good clearance sale next fall. After all,
even if you are successful, you may find that the plants that you propagated
are lackluster offspring of the parent plants. The other option is to buy
from a reputable wholesaler like John Scheepers.
http://www.johnscheepers.com/ They have a good selection of hyacinths
selling for as little as 40 cents each. I find hyacinths very reliable, so
your investment will give you many years of fragrant returns.