How do I collect Scabiosa seeds?

I have a lot of fluffy brown pods on my scabiosa plants, but I have no idea how to harvest the seeds or even where the seeds are. I took one apart and little brown pieces came off, but nothing that looked like a seed.

I'm basically a seed collecting novice... Thanks for any help.

Snip: If collecting scabiosa, echinacea, heliopsis or a favorite marigold or African daisy it is best to wait until the seeds are fully ripe before collecting. They are ripe when they fall without help from the seed head. If you have to tug the seeds off the head of a plant in the daisy family they may not be ripe enough to grow. If you are in a hurry to collect before the seeds are fully ripe it is good to clip a long flower stalk and place that in the bag or on a warm dry counter top. The seeds will continue to mature and will be ready to separate from the stalks when they start to drop off naturally.

http://www.icangarden.com/document.cfm?task=viewdetail&itemid=2635&categoryid=75

Hope this gives you some help..........................

Here's what my annual scabiosa seeds look like. After the head gets completely brown I just run my thumb over the heads and the seeds fall off. The actual seed is very small and is in the bottom of the larger brown/tan seed covering. But when you order them, they are like these in the picture.

Vicki

edited for spelling

This message was edited Sep 27, 2004 9:16 PM

Another pic, these are a little blurry

Great pix Sadie. I wish more people would include seed pix in the PDB

So, are the seeds inside those papery brown compartments? If so, do I need to somehow separate them from the compartments? Or, do I just store the whole compartment?

Thanks for the help.

lilystorm - I just leave mine out to dry on a paper towel or paper plate for a week or so and then store whole. I also sow them whole. I only know the seed is in there because out of curiosity, I pulled one apart : ). When I have purchased these seeds, they have been whole, not separated from the papery part.


rikerbear - thanks, which pic do you think looks best and I'll put it in the PDB.

Vicki

Thanks for the great photos and information! I wish there was a guide to this seed collecting. Actually, there probably is!

I have a book called "Making More Plants," but it doesn't have information on identifying the seed parts on every plant.

Either pix Sadie....but pic 2 is a bit more detailed.

lilystorm---try this link, click on "seeds and seed pods", it has some good pics of both, alpha listed, also has pics of seedlings, which I found useful.

http://theseedsite.co.uk/

Wow, thanks for the link!