This is a seed head from a sunflower type plant. Just recently bloomed, lasted about 2-5 weeks. I drove past this plant every day 2x a day. I watched it for several weeks waiting for the seeds. I finally asked permission to pluck yesterday, but ..but...but...I can't find any seeds! Wah!
isn't the dark part in center the seed bed??/ birdie birdie may have beat you to it
Nooooo Please dont say its so
the seeds are packed tightly in the center, just brush hard to see if they are still there or the birds had dinner
Take the seed head and break it in half or fourths do you see anything? By the looks of the stem I would think the seeds would still be green. Look and let me know.
Aren't those things you have plucked out with the little fuzzy looking tails on them seeds? Kind of looks like to me.
I think this might be the same problem I had with echinacea seeds a few weeks back - your seed head looks very green in the photo, maybe the seeds just aren't ripe yet.
Natasha
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/459996/
PotofGold!
I tore that one apart...nothing but white fleshy bits of "flower"
I tore another one apart and 'voila! I found seeds! Yah!! Guess I picked a few immature ones.
This message was edited Oct 16, 2004 8:20 PM
oopsie wrong pic....
Here's the correct one
Isn't it great to have 'lil helpers!
I'm starting my little gardener young! *grin*
I think it's great to start them young. However, my 3 year old would love to "help mommy" if he could. Not that young. lol Maybe in a couple of years.
I've noticed with some plants that the heads would infer lots of seeds, but once you harvest the heads and start breaking them down, there are very few seeds. This is true with some chrysanthemum.
After breaking down about 15 seed heads, I found that some yielded lots of seed, and others had nothing. Probably because they were immature. I'll get some more next week incase these seeds I have are not viable.
Yes, I've opened mature paludosum daisy seeds and found two or three seeds, but a plain old oxe-eye daisy was loaded. Perhaps some plants put out more seed because they are species and must procreate on their own, while our cultivars are intentionally sown and need less seed. I've also wondered if pollination plays a role. If a flower is pollinated, does it mean all seeds within the flower will mature and be viable? Perhaps that is why some seem to 'mature', but others don't.
Created cultivars are usually hybrids and some will set sterile seeds...or very few viable ones. Just one of the characteristics of hybrids.
Open Pollinated plants will set larger amounts of seeds because this isn't a trait that has been bred out of them. Hybrid producers don't care if a plant sets seeds...they want to sell you more next year.
Be warned that hybrids will most likely not come true from saved seeds...if they germinate at all.
Melody, all the seeds I collect are more or less 'open pollinated'. I've found that many of the hybrid seeds are viable and come back quite similar to the parent plant. Usually, the color may be a bit different or the plant less compact. Even when grown next to another variety of the same species, the seeds are most often similar to the parent plant. In fact, by reverting back a step from a hybrid, I've noticed some flowers have more scent.
Yep, you get more scent with the 'off' seeds...I've noticed it too. Most times the plants aren't identical to the parent, and as long as you are aware of that they make nice plants.
The only time you have any problems is if you are wanting an exact duplicate of the parent...then another route of propogation is needed.
I just get really particular with my heirloom veggies and don't realize that flowers are a different story alltogether. It's deathly important to retain seed purity with these old veggies and that's the mind-set I've been in for years.
When growing out saved seeds from a hybrid veggie, you get some stuff so unlike the parent it can't be used, and some seeds are sterile. You also get some nice surprises.
The one thing with us gardeners...we'll try anything once. It never hurts to see what you'll get.
Yes, I can understand concern for purity with heirlooms... of course, most of them were unpure at some point in order to have developed into an heirloom, I guess! LOL! Saving veggie seeds is usually not an issue here, since our season is so short. I can harvest oriental mustards, but they can really vary, so I don't do it much anymore.
Some flowers are real 'swingers', cross-polinating like crazy all summer.. such as violas. I had some lovely and unusual violas that were a cross between 'Eye of the Tiger' and Velour Blue Bronze. In that case, the cross-pollination is fun... no attempt to preserve a cultivar.
