Extend the reach of your favorite plants by gathering their seeds for the next season
Though we ’re definitely guide toward winter here in the Mid - Atlantic , November can bring some marvelously modest weather too . If you ’re calculate for a good excuse to get back out to the garden , consider consider this opportunity to collect some seeds from your favorite plant . It can yield big reward for just a little effort .
Those of you who already have some experience in growing from seed do it that it can get dear to purchase new mailboat of everything you need each twelvemonth . By saving seed from yearbook and perennial you already have , you’re able to spare a good fleck of money — or dislodge up cash in hand to essay something different .
You ’ll often hear that it ’s not deserving make unnecessary seeds from named cultivars or hybrids . That can be true if you ’re look for precise duplication of the parent plant , but if you ’re open to some variation in height , color , and other traits , seeds are a okay propagation selection . You may find something even more exciting than the master among the materialisation !
The existent collecting part is pretty simple . Wait until the weather has been teetotal for a few day and any morning dew is gone , then head out with your trimmer , some newspaper bags or envelopes , and a pen or pencil .
Sometimes you may expect at the plant and easily see the seeded player — particularly on composite - type blunder such as asters ( Symphyotrichumspp . and cvs . , Zones 3–9 ) , coreopsis ( Coreopsisspp . and cvs . , Zones 3–9 ) , and zinnias ( Zinniaspp . and cvs . , one-year ) . In that case , you’re able to just pick them off or shake the heads into the bag or gasbag . On other plants , the seeds are shut in in some form of pod — as on plant like balloon bloom ( Platycodon grandifloras , Zones 3–8 ) , bluestars ( Amsoniaspp . and cvs . , Zones 3–9 ) , and morning glories ( Ipomoeaspp . and cvs . , annual ) .
ensure you judge and date each bag or gasbag before move on to the next type of ejaculate . If the seeds were enclosed in some sort of cod or seed forefront , you may exploit on removing them presently after gather them or wait until you are quick to use them . If you ’re lucky , you may retrieve that the source have come out on their own and compile in the bottom of the container . Otherwise , you ’ll need to crumble the pod or source head with your finger , then carefully muff off the chaff or pour the whole mixture through a sieve to separate the seeds from the stubble .
stack away the seeds in a dry space until you ’re ready to sow and get grow . If you end up with more germ than you postulate , consider dividing them into small packets ; they ’re a rattling way to share the bounty of your beds and borders with other gardeners .
— Nancy J. Ondra is the source of over fifteen book , includingGrasses , The Perennial Care Manual , andThe Perennial Matchmaker .
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It’s easy to harvest exposed seeds, like these on New York ironweed (Vernonia noveboracensis, Zones 3–9). Simply pick them off the plant.Photo: Nancy J. Ondra
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Saving and sowing seeds from your favorite annuals and perennials is a good way to expand your plantings. It can require a bit of patience—Arkansas bluestar (Amsonia hubrichtii, Zones 5–9), for instance, can take three or four years from seed to start filling out—but the results will be worth the wait.Photo: Nancy J. Ondra
Sowing seed from a clump of ‘Purple Smoke’ false indigo (Baptisia‘Purple Smoke’, Zones 4–9) that was growing near some other species produced this beautiful range of flower colors.Photo: Nancy J. Ondra
At this time of year, it’s likely that seedpods are fully dry and ready to split, if they haven’t already—like these on ‘Purple Smoke’ false indigo. Handle them gently to avoid spilling out the seeds before you get them in a container.Photo: Nancy J. Ondra
