This is the best result of my first attempt at hosta propagation from seed. I collected open pollinated seed (in other words, I made no attempt to fertilize the pod parent from any particular hosta -- I just let nature take its course) from a number of my hostas. Very few seed from the hybrid plants germinated, but most of the seed from species plants did. I grew about 40 plants whose identifiable parent was H. nakaina. The I narrowed down that number to plants I deemed "interesting". They had an interesting leaf shape, had some interesting leaf characteristics (such as wavy edges) or were a color other than plain green. I transplanted these 24 plants into the garden and waited for them to develop. Most of them ended up looking exactly like H. nakaina, but a few were different. The best of the bunch was slightly golden in color, had thicker leaves with a slightly wavy edge, and seemed to grow vigorously -- a trait of most H. nakaina offspring. I have named it H. 'Eleanor' after my late mother (1922-1987), but have not yet gotten around to registering it with the International Hosta Registrar. I hope to do that this (199) summer.
