So...just to clarify...on the seed pod I have that is opening already, should I pull the seed pod off and bring it indoors to dry? Or should I leave it on the stem in the hopes it turns brown?

I would leave it on the scape until it turns brown or otherwise seems to have stopped developing.
If you have some floating row cover material you could cut a square piece and tie it around the pod and scape to prevent the loss of the seeds while the pod remains on the scape.

I've noticed my pods turn a creamy white or pale yellow from the bottom up then start to open.

None of my seed pods were really brown today; some have a little bit of browning that looks more like the seed pods are toasted. ...but since a bunch of you noted that your pods don't turn brown, I went around and did the pinch test on a bunch of them just to see and...

I found one that seemed to pass the pinch test, more or less. It made a *crack* sound when I pinched it. It was also a little pale in color and had some brown spots/flecks on it, so I pulled it off in the hopes that it was ready. I decided that if it wasn't, oh well, it was an experiment, and it wasn't a pollination I made anyway (it was a seed pod that was bee pollinated and came on the the plant when I bought it recently).

Fortunately, though, it was ready!

Here are two pictures of the coloring (the 'X' just signifies that it was a pre-pollinated seedpod and that I don't know the pollen parent)


...and they're shiny and black! Four ripe-looking seeds on one side ...:


...and one on the other :

There you have it. You are all now semi-witnesses to my first ever seed harvest!

WTG, Libby!

To add to what Maurice mentioned about white seeds with Moonlight Orchid, I have read that - and have read that Siloam Peony Display has white seeds at maturity also - multiple people stated that. One person also mentioned Westbourne Cottonmouth and another mentioned Artistic Pink as having viable white seeds. This was in a post on Facebook in one of the daylily groups, I just went back and searched for it and located it to provide this info here.

Laura (and others),
I'm late to the discussion due to craziness going on, but wanted to add that Siloam Peony Display does indeed have white seeds.
I had not heard of this, and thought that something was wrong when I collected from the first pod. Then the second and third pods also had white seeds. Most of them look normal, except for their coloring. They are about to go into the fridge, then I plan to germinate them. I will update as time goes by if I am successful in germinating them.
I have Moonlight Orchid also, but it did not bloom this year. Now I'm really looking forward to pollinating it next year

Congrats, Libby!!! The fun will really begin when you sow those seeds!

scflowers said:I have Moonlight Orchid also, but it did not bloom this year. Now I'm really looking forward to pollinating it next year

I think it would be very interesting if you cross-pollinated 'Moonlight Orchid' with 'Siloam Peony Display' (in either direction). It is possible that all their seedling offspring would have white seeds. Or it is possible that three quarters of their seedlings would have white seeds.

admmad said:
I think it would be very interesting if you cross-pollinated 'Moonlight Orchid' with 'Siloam Peony Display' (in either direction). It is possible that all their seedling offspring would have white seeds. Or it is possible that three quarters of their seedlings would have white seeds.

Yes! Now we're talking! ...about genetics, that is! ;) I'm not a geneticist, but I love working with genetics (and logistic problems) like that.

I will be receiving Moonlight Orchid in Sept. Now to find Siloam Peony Display ....

I am so glad that this thread was started. If I hybridize using Moonlight Orchid and got white seeds, I'd be wondering what in the world was going on? Now I know! Pretty cool that not all daylily seeds are black when ripe.

One summer I planted morning glories and got white seeds from some of them.

Thought I would add this picture since I just harvested my first ever seed pod that *I* pollinated (not the bees at a daylily garden). This definitely wasn't the seed pod I expected to ripen first since I was pollinating seeds two weeks prior to when this one was pollinated, but here it is...


Joan Senior x Black Plush
(Notice that the pod isn't completely brown and withered? Maybe the pods just don't get hot and dry enough up north for that?)




And the 4 seeds:

As for the Peek-a-Boo seeds...I put aluminum foil on the seed pod to protect it from getting wet and rotting...a few days after I started this post, the seeds were already turning black.

I went out and took a picture of the seeds again. This one was pollinated on July 21, so only a few weeks old. The pod is still very green, but the seeds have been black for about a week or so. Since the pod hasn't started to wither, I'm thinking I will still leave it alone, but my other seed pods I harvested definitely didn't get very brown before they were ready, so I don't know what my harvesting indicator should be yet.



[Edited to correct pollination date - whoops!]

I just harvested four mature/ripe pods to get a comparison of how they look when mature here.

Maurice, thank you for sharing the photo comparison. How old are those pods?

DogsNDaylilies said:Maurice, thank you for sharing the photo comparison. How old are those pods?

You're welcome; I do not have a pollination date for the pods.

I'm beginning to see some of my 6+ week old seed pods start to open now. They have varying degrees of brown on them, but still not as much as I would have expected. They aren't as brown as Maurice's.


I jumped back in this forum today, though, to show another oddity that I found regarding seed pods. I purchased Royal Frosting recently and I have a seed pod on it that is growing VERY red and has been this color for days now. Here's a picture:



Has anyone else experienced red seed pods to this degree? Does anyone else have Royal Frosting with seed pods on it right now? I'd be curious if it's a cultivar thing or some mutated seedpod thing.

That sure is allot of red. Never seen that before.

I expect that it is a cultivar thing - some cultivars will have some reddish-purplish colour on their pods while others may not. I also expect that the amount of sunlight and temperatures would affect how much and how deep the coloured areas become.

It might be interesting to check whether those cultivars that can develop reddish colour on the bases of their fans in the early spring can also develop reddish-purplish colour on their pods.