How to save seed from a cone flower

Hello, I have a question. How do know when to start to save the seed off of a varegated cone flower or any cone flower?
I have no clue when to cut the bloom. Thanks Cindy

Hi Cindy. I'm not familiar with a variegated coneflower, but with echinacea (purple coneflower), you wait until the seed-head turns black and the the stem is dead looking near the top. In-between all the prickly spines are the seeds. WEAR GLOVES!!! Those pricklies are buggers when you get them stuck in your fingers!!! Good luck :) Gretchen

Hey Gretchen,
Thanks for the info. Hopefully I will have a bunch of seed to share. Wasn't sure of what to do. I have the white cone flower also.

Cindy

You're welcome! I'm sure you will have lots of takers for your seeds :)

I have a coneflower that is diifferent;

Mountain Cornflower, Mountain Bluet, Perennial Cornflower
Centaurea montana
'Gold Bullion'
See this link: http://plantsdatabase.com/go/54762/index.html

I wasn't sure about when to save the seed either; till I saw one opening up and pealing down. The seeds started to fall off fast by the next day. So I had to keep checking the other seed heads daily. I wanted to make sure I caught the rest of the heads because each head throws of at least 20 to 25 seeds, even when you only have 6 -7 plants growing; and I wanted to save some for trading too.

This is a picture of my first Red Nastursium this year on 7/19/2004

Hi NatureWalker. An easy way to catch the seeds is to use a coffee filter tied around the seedhead. It can still "breathe" and receives filtered sunlight. That way you won't miss out on any seeds :)

or cover it with a knee-hi nylon stocking and secure it with with a twist tie.

You all come up with such good advise. I am so glad that I joined daves garden. I am new to saving seeds. I have joined seed savers also.
Thanks again,

Cindy

There's a couple images of the seeds and seedhead in the PDB
http://davesgarden.com/pdb/showimage/28/

Great tips! I have purple and white echinacea amoung other wildflowers and until joining this site left them for the birds! I look foward to trading and discussing during the winter months when all I normally do is read catalogs and day dream about Spring! Nicole

Thanks poppysue, I knew that I saw that picture around the site; but I wasn't sure where, and I lost this link because I didn't mark it to 'watch', glad I found it again.
Now I've bookmarked the image of Echinacea purpurea. It's gonna be a rubber gloved thing by the looks of it. Those pricklies look pretty painful. Will tweezers work to sort out the seeds from the Chaff?

You can harvest the seeds in the early morning when the seed heads are more pliable and less prickly from dew. Also, you can soak them for a very short while, not long enough to saturate them, just to make the prickly part more supple.
Be fast when they are ripe or the goldfinches will pick out all the goodies.

What about using those finger protectors that are available in Office supply stores. You know, the ones they use for counting money or sorting papers? I have coneflowers and I have finger "gloves"...guess what I'm going to try? :-D (Sometimes I just don't know where my mind comes up with these things...sure wish it would let me in on it before I start typing. :-D)

~julie~

Julie,

About using those finger protectors that are available in Office supply stores; my mother, the former secretery, calls them 'finger condoms'. I've asked her about using them for this purpose, and she said they're too thin for doing that. She's going to see if she can get some of those old-fashioned rubber sewing thimbles from an old store near her. You may be able to find them in some big range sewing supplies store, I don't know.

LOL ...I think I've heard them called that (by my DH). But I didn't know it a universal alternate. :-D

I wonder if the ones I have are different from your mother uses or is talking about. Mine have (I wish I hadn't started this topic LOL ) ridges and nubbies on them and they're pretty thick. I'll have to try to dig them out and see if there's a stock number or something.

I'm outta here before I get myself in more trouble. :-D :-D

~julie~

.. LOL .. Only here @ DG .. can things progress (and digress) with such ease ... hee hee ..

Thanks Magpye...I needed *that* hehehehe

~julie~

Julie,

The ones with the ridges and nubbies on them and pretty thick; are the ones that are good for this purpose. They are the ones I was speaking about ; that my mother wants to find.
I'm gonna need to find some soon for the Echinacea P. If they ever get a liitle more drier.

~ Bump ~

The easiest way to get the seeds out of a coneflower head is wait till it's crispy dry and then tap the thing on a hard surface while holding the stem. The seeds will pop right out. No hassles and no stuck fingers.