Saving Pansy seeds for next Season

Hello,
I have not yet ever tried to save seeds for the next season, but since I have had a few pansies opportunistically pop up from last year ( I think) I wanted to give it try. I planted same variety plants together this last fall and have not dead headed at all this go around. How can I collect the seeds and store them for a try next year? I will be happy to "look it up" myself if someone could just point me in the right direction.

Thanks for any suggestions,
Linda

I want to know this too Linda. I'm gonna be needing alot of seed gathering advice this year with the things I have started. hahaha

Look closely at the old flowers you didn't deadhead, at ones where the petals have already dropped away. The seeds will be sitting in little canoe-like pods that are clustered together in a star-shape. If the only thing you see are star-shaped husks, then the seeds have already dropped to the ground. As I recall, the seeds are small, dark, & round. Sorry I don't have a photo.... did you check PF?

Pansy & Viola seeds are easy to collect. The pod that forms behind the spent bloom is really easy to find. The trick is to collect the pods after the seeds are ripened but before the heads pop open, turn themselves inside out, and shoot seeds everywhere.

In fact, you can let them reseeds themselves in the bed and save yourself some trouble, but if you'd like to start them indoors or plant them elsewhere, wait until the pod looks ripe and full, begins turning color, then pick it and place it in a container that has room enough for the pods to dry out.

Place a cover over the container, as the seeds will fly everywhere as the pods open.
My husband always chuckles when I cover a bowl of seeds with a sheet of paper and it sounds like little popcorn kernels going off!

If you are collecting seeds from several different kinds in the same bed, keep in mind that they will likely have cross pollinated, so the resulting plants can be any of the varieties available to the bees, etc, or any combination thereof. Violas are always such good fun.

Thanks, WZ! I knew you'd have much better advice than my method of looking to see if any unescaped seeds remain!

Yeah, thanks Weezin.. guess I better get my excel file going on Saving Seeds information now. :)

Thanks for the replies.

Maybe I'll be found next on the seed for SASE Forum.LOL

oh, yeah, I've got it bad.... my first thought was, "Hey, there's a Seed For SASE forum??!!!?" ROTFL