Saving Flower Seeds
It's always nice to collect seeds of favorite flowers so they can grow again in next year's gardens.
Seed saving is the practice of keeping seeds or other reproductive material from flowers, vegetables, grains, and herbs, for use from year to year. It’s a rewarding pastime, a great way to save money, and the most economical way to produce new plants for the garden. It’s also a nice way to share well-loved plants and flowers with family and friends.
Here's a look at the seeds of some of my favorite garden blooms, enjoy.
-
- Many types of plants produce seeds that can be saved from one year and sown the next. Once the seeds are removed from the pods, they can be kept in small envelopes in a cool, dark place until the next growing season. These are the seeds of the cosmos we grew in our meadow garden this year. Ryan collected a tray of them after the flowers faded.
-
- This is the classic “sulphur” or “orange” cosmo – a vigorous, resilient, and colorful flower that attracts bees, birds, and butterflies.
-
- And once they are done blooming, this is what is left. The seeds are not encased in a pod, but fall freely from the plant with a very slight touch.
-
- Baptisia are flowering herbaceous perennial plants with pea-like flowers, followed by pods. They are native to woodland and grassland in eastern and southern North America. Here are some baptisia flowers blooming earlier this summer.
-
- Baptisia seed pods follow the faded blooms, turn black and begin to open on their own. The seeds are round and relatively large, compared to many other seeds.
-
- I adore peonies. Peonies are perennials that come back every year – some thriving for more than a century. I have both herbaceous peonies and tree peonies here at my farm.
-
- Peonies form interesting clusters of wedge-like gray to brown seed pods, covered when young with a slight fuzz. As they mature, the seed pods turn dark brown and leathery, and as they ripen, the seed pods crack open, revealing dark purple to black shiny seeds.
-
- The columbine plant, Aquilegia, is an easy-to-grow perennial that blooms in a variety of colors during spring. The bell-shaped flowers are a favorite to hummingbirds and may be used in cut-flower arrangements. The most striking feature of columbine flower is the collection of five backward-projecting spurs. Each spur is a petal that has developed into what appears to be a tall, slender, hollow hat. At the very top of each spur, inside, is a gland producing sweet nectar.
-
- Here is what it looks like after the flower petals fade. The tube-shaped seed pod is now exposed. The seeds are can be shaken out of the pods. In nature, strong winds create a rattling sound from these pods. Inside each seed pod, there are a lot of small, shiny back seeds. The columbine seed “pod” is sturdy and keeps the seeds on the stem for a long time.
-
- Named after the Greek goddess of the rainbow, irises bloom with gorgeous color in spring and summer. The vast majority are hybrids with the most popular being the bearded irises. Other varieties include Siberian and Japanese irises, Louisiana irises which are native to North America, and Dutch hybrids.
-
- Once the flowers are done blooming, the seed pods ripen and turn fully brown. The pods are one to two inches long revealing the brown seeds inside.
-
- The Morning Glory is a cheerful, old-fashioned type of bloom that adds color to any fence or trellis.
-
- The blooms leave a small, round pods behind at the end of the stem. Inside are two to five small, black, hard seeds.
-
- Here are some of the poppies we grew this year. Poppies are long flowering and easy to grow. Poppies are pretty in both annual and perennial varieties, and they come in nearly every color of the rainbow.
-
- Here is a poppy seed pod, which is what’s left on the stem once the flower blooms and the petals fall off. As the seed heads turn brown with ripeness, it’s time to cut them and harvest the seeds.
-
- Here, the top is cut off to show all the seeds. These seeds can be tossed randomly in the garden to self-sow. Each seedpod can hold more than 200 seeds, which, in nature, eventually shake out on their own as the winds blow.
-
- This is larkspur, another flower I love growing. Larkspur is an annual flower that blooms in late spring and goes to seeds around the middle of July.
-
- The seed pods begin as green tubes that look a lot like miniature pea pods. One pod forms at every point where there was a flower. When the top of the plant finally dries, the pods crack open. If left as is, the whole pod will eventually split, scattering the seeds.
-
- These are Formosa lilies, which start blooming in August and continue through early October. They bear eight or more 10 inch long, pristine-white trumpets upon each stem.
-
- After the flowers fade, the seed pods turn upward, forming a candelabra shape. Each capsule contains hundreds of papery seeds.
-
- And remember the tall and regal sunflowers? This one bloomed right outside my greenhouse, looking down at the rest of the flowers and offering a source of food and nectar to any pollinators nearby.
-
- Sunflower seeds are ready to harvest when their foliage turns yellow, the petals die down and the seeds look plump.
-
- Some of the seeds have already been eaten by birds, but there are many that can also be harvested and saved for planting.
-
- Here’s a look at my flower garden in early summer, when so many flowers are blooming. I hope you’re able to save some of your favorite flower seeds, so you can enjoy them again next year.
Martha Pins
Martha Tweets
