Brian, I've been hybridizing Eucomis for well over 10 years, even longer than Bob Lauf. Coincidentally, I came to the same conclusion as he did regarding seed collection. I cut the scapes about a week before our first predicted freeze, which tends to be in early October here. By that time some of the seeds have matured and are dark black, while others are more brownish. I put them in paper bags, and let them sit in the dark garage for a few weeks. By that time, pods have opened and all of the seeds have ripened, including the brown ones. There is no need to put the scapes in water. Euomis stems are very fleshy, and have more than enough moisture to feed the developing seeds for several weeks. I leave all of the unselected stems in the field, but have never seen any volunteer seedlings. Speaking of which, I should get my seeds planted soon! --Roy NW of Boston On 11/24/2021 7:22 AM, Brian Whyer via pbs wrote: > > Hi. I have a number of Eucomis in the garden, from 6 inches to 3 feet > tall. Some I bought originally as species, others with variety names, > e.g. Sparking Burgundy. I have never noticed any self sown plants > although I see plenty of seed on some, but the commoner forms increase > vegitatively OK. My E. pallidiflora (Pole-Evansii) grows Ok but does > not like my low rainfall and is rarely much above 2 feet tall, and > although I have seed pods I suspect the early frosts destroy them. Can > I cut the stems now as we start night time -ve temps. and ripen them > as cut stems? > _______________________________________________ pbs mailing list pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/… Unsubscribe: <mailto:pbs-unsubscribe@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net>