Why do we save seeds from our flowers? Well, first and most obvious, saving our own seeds saves us money. We save seeds from dozens of different flowers. Multiply those dozens by the $4 or $5 cost for a packet of seeds and it adds up. The seeds we save ourselves tend to be fresher and to germinate better than some bought seeds. One other bonus is that we sometimes accidentally develop new colors or varieties. I discovered a pretty blush larkspur and a champagne colored celosia in my garden from last year’s seeds.
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Things to Know Before You Save Seeds
Best Practices
When you save seeds from your flowers, here are a few things to keep in mind. Plant open pollinated species far apart if you don’t want them to cross with other colors of the same variety. Each type of flower has different requirements so you may need to do a bit of research to see how far apart to plant them. One way around this is to grow only one color of flower in each variety.
Save from the healthiest, tallest plants. This is pretty obvious, but it’s important to note. You want vigorous plants, so choose seeds that come from a vigorous parent. You should also save the flowers with shades or shapes that you’re drawn to. Leave the lack luster ones behind. No one has time for a mediocre zinnia.
How to Know When to Save Seeds
An easy way to know which seeds you can save in your garden is to notice what self sows. Have you let any of your flowers go to seed and seen them sprout in your garden? That’s a good indication you’ve got a candidate for seed saving.
Here is a list of easy varieties that we have saved seed from; agrostemma, Argentine forget me not, bupleurum, celosia, chamomile, Chinese forget me not, craspedia, cress, dahlia, delphinium, gomphrena, jewel of opar, larkspur, love in a puff, lupine, nigella, orlaya, poppies, rudbeckia, scabiosa, silene, strawflower, sunflower, zinnia.
How to save seeds that will be like the parent plant
Start by sowing open pollinated seeds. These, when self-pollinated or crossed with another plant from the same variety, will yield seeds that will appear much like the parent plant. If you grow multiple varieties of a same type of plant, say a zinnia for example, unless you hand pollinate and protect from cross pollination, you may get a new variety.
Some kinds of seeds don’t cross quickly so you can plant them side by side and get seeds that are similar to the parent. Gomphrena is one that I’ve planted three colors side by side for years without new colors developing.
You’ll most likely need to experiment to see which seeds come true to the parent and which ones develop new colors from cross pollination. If you have your heart on a specific variety and don’t wish to go to the bother of hand pollinating, purchasing from your favorite supplier is a good backup plan.
Harvesting and Storing Seeds
When to Harvest
Let the seeds develop on the stalk as much as possible. If you cut them too soon they may not fully ripen. A good rule of thumb is to wait until a flower is faded and turning brown before harvesting for seeds. With some varieties like celosia or jewel of opar, you’ll know they’re ready to harvest when they’ve started dropping seeds.
Drying Your Seeds
Hanging them up to dry is an easy way to dry a lot of seeds. This works well for kinds that don’t drop their seed quickly like strawflower, rudbeckia, gomphrena, etc.
Varieties that shed easily like silene, celosia, nigella, and jewel of opar can be dried upside down in paper bags or on shallow trays or paper plates to catch all the seeds as they ripen. If I use paper bags, I remove all the leaves from the stalk and then either leave the bag open and just prop the flowers upside down inside, or tie it very loosely around the stalks. It’s best to allow a bit of airflow into the bag.
Whichever method you use, dry seeds in a low humidity area away from light.
Cleaning Your Seeds
Once your seeds are dry, it can be helpful to clean the seeds so they’re easier to sow in spring. It’s totally optional, though, since the chaff and plant debris won’t hurt the seeds when they’re germinating. Cleaning seeds can be time consuming, and I often wait to clean and winnow my seeds until I have time later in the fall.
It can be as simple as crumbling the seedhead onto a smooth surface and handpicking out the seeds. If you have a small batch, this is the easiest way to clean your seeds. If you have larger batches of seeds to clean winnowing with wind, a fan, or even a puff of air from your own lungs can work. Take two deep containers outside or where there’s a slight breeze and pour the seed and chaff from one container to the next. The seeds are usually heavier than the chaff and will fall into the container while the chaff blows away.
Storing Your Seeds
Keep your seeds dry. I put mine in paper envelopes and store them in a plastic bin. I recently upgraded to this plastic bin and I love how organized it keeps my seeds. I labeled the individual cases with the alphabet and it’s so much easier to find my seeds. If you have especially tiny seeds that would fall out the holes on paper envelopes, these little sealable bags work well.
It’s best to store your seeds in a cool dark room out of direct sunlight. In my new house, I stored them in a storage room upstairs not realizing that even with the mini blinds drawn, the south facing room got pretty bright during the day and also pretty warm during the summer. Oops. I’ve since moved them to a dark, cool closet under the stairs.
Have you tried to save seeds from your flowers? If not, I hope you’ll give it a try!
Have a lovely day,
Rosita