Q: I have a number of mature hosta plants. They form seed pods along the flower stems. I would like to plant these seeds but have tried with no success. Is there a trick?

A: You can collect seed from the crumbly brown pods and plant them immediately in a sunny, well drained spot. They will sprout in spring. Feed with houseplant fertilizer every six weeks to help them quickly grow to mature size.

Don’t expect the seedlings to be identical to the parent plant. According to plant expert Tony Avent (www.plantdelights.com), “The leaf color of the seedling will be derived from the color in the center of the leaf of the parent plant. Green hostas will usually produce green offspring, blue hostas will produce some blue, some green, and some gold offspring. Gold hostas will produce some of each also. Edge-variegated hostas will NOT produce variegated offspring. Only hostas that have white streaks in the center of the leaf will produce variegated offspring. White-centered hostas will produce all-white hostas which usually die as seedlings due to a lack of chlorophyll.”

hosta 'Grand Prize'