What seeds will you be collecting?

some of us are already thinking of buying seeds - but maybe we should list what seeds we think we might have available to swap/trade/share before we rush out to buy more.


I already have bleeding hearts alba collected (like one offering of 30 seeds)

But I hope to collect seeds from:

California Poppies (Mission Bell mix)
Heuchera (Plum Pudding)
Shasta Daisy
Echinacea (Pink)
Veronica (Sunny Border Blue)
Perennial Sunflower - Lemon Queen
Foxglove - Apricot Beauty
Hardy Geranium - Johnsons' Blue
Larkspur - Giant Imperial Mix
bachelor buttons mix
Linaria
Baby's breath
Agastache foeniculum 'Golden Jubilee'
Garden Phlox - David's Lavender
snapdragon - tall mix

From what plants, if any, will you be collecting seeds?

I've been collecting Knautia macedonica, maiden pinks, sweet williams, and avens already. I plan to collect many varieties of hoats seeds and a few daylilies.

My first year collecting seeds, I`m waiting for these to ripen...
Campanela, hosta, Lunaria, cleome, Lilium..
It`s fun' searching for seed pods.

I'm HOPING to collect seeds from the following:

Johnson's Blue Geranium (not 100% is Johnson's Blue but quite sure).
Have already collected seeds from Lychnis Flossii "Ragged Robin"
Penstemon Smallii
Penstemon (pink w/bluish-gray leaves)
Platycodon Blue
Platycodon Dwarf Blue
Platycodon White
Platycodon Double Blue
Platycodon Shell Pink
Obedient Plant Pink
Rose Campion "Blush"
Dianthus "Rainbow Lovliness" Pink
Johnny Jump Ups
HOPEFULLY Cleome Lutea :)
HOPEFULLY Pink Lily of the Valley
Red Bee Balm
Double Blue/Purple Columbine
Lupines Pink/Purple

Maybe a couple more IF they set seed.
I will have pictures of all the above :)

Kim

*edited to add the Columbine and again to add Lupine*

This message was edited Jul 6, 2007 9:22 PM

This message was edited Jul 7, 2007 9:11 AM

I want to be in swaps with you guys!!!!

I have red mini snapdragons, but before you wrinkle your collective noses, let me tell you these things are GREAT! They withstood that week of freezing weather at Easter and went on to bloom very early. THEN for every stem I pinch out after bloom, they each throw up about 6 more. It is incredible. I love the fragrance (can only smell it when I'm down weeding or deadheading aka collecting seed) and they really are non stop bloomers.

I tried Sunny Border Ble last year and I didnt find any viable seed on it; same with my pink Lily of the Valley :((

I have Echinaceas out the wazoo along with a lot of Rudbeckias with a lot of brown in the center -- Chocolate porange., Marengo and a couple of others)

I plucked my wine and gold Linaria, we'll see if I can get seed -- and clean it well enough -- to make trades or swaps. I loved it!

Agrostemma 'Milas' was also a blooming fool. Same with Dahlia 'Bishop's Children', and my Calendula 'Indian Prince'. Red Annual Poppies. I have a bunch of stuff and you will certainly get sick of hearing about it and seeing it!

As far as perennials go, I got rid of most of them last year and am starting over. I might have some Filipendula 'Queen of the Prarie' seed, but that's about it.

I could maybe have some martagon Lily seed from 'Claude Shride' (the seedlings will look just like Claude) but I'm not sure how many people really want to wait 5 years for blooms.

In plants: I am dividing Lilium 'Satisfaction' and also one called 'Kiss Me Kate' (I am pretty sure, I have to go out and look at that tag). I am also getting rid of all my peonies and swapping out for others I've never had before.

So you see, Sea, I *need* those seeds!

Suzy

Excellent thread! Thank you for starting it!! You might also want to start another thread on how to properly collect the ripe seeds.

YES, Yes, yes!!! Gather your seeds while they ripen so their joy can be spread throughout DG gardens!

Seeds I will try to collect & share, hope they are all viable....

Dianthus (various varieties)
Foxglove, hot pink
Lychnis coronaria (mostly white with a few hot pinks)
Prunella grandiflora, "Freelander"
Salvia roemeriana, "Hot Trumpets"
Salvia superba, "Rose Queen"
Sedum, (low growing mat with yellow flowers)

Suzy: Are you saying that it takes 5 years to grow a Lily from seed before it blooms? No wonder I haven't seen anything on my wintersown plant of Lilium formosanum pricei! Now, ONLY 3 more years to wait...tap, tap, tap.

Suzy, I'm intrigued by your snapdragon seeds. I definitely want to trade for those.

Kim, Dianthus "Rainbow Lovliness" looks like a nice plant.

I've had Johnson's blue geranium self seed and the flower color doesn't come true but it's still a nice plant.

I'll also collect seeds from my favorite annual cerinthe major , and also Cosmic Orange cosmos. I added a Plum Crazy hibiscus to my garden this year, I don't know if the seeds a viable but I'm going to find out.

Mao

Sure, Maoza, red mini Snaps for you.

I have Cerinthe major and love it! I need to figure out what the seeds are because I forgot already. Are they big and dark? Or do I open that thing up to get the smaller seeds inside? They aren't quite ripe yet, but I was investigating today.

Shirley, no, Martagon lilies take 5-6 years, they are the only ones that take that long. (That we are likely to run across, anyway) Your lily formosanum should take 2 years, or 3, if it's a slow poke. Here's the photo of Claude Shride -- backlit, it's not that bright. People on the Lily List complain that all the offspring look just like it and it shows no admixture of any of the other parent's characteristics....so in other words, it pretty much comes true from seed.

Suzy

Suzy: Lily, "Claude Shride" is gorgeous! I would love to try wintersowing some of those seeds, just for the sheer fact of getting them to grow. Having them in bloom would be an outstanding bonus!

So, you think that formosanum will bloom by next Summer? I'm keeping my fingers & toes crossed!

Suzy - I know lots will want the echinachea - I know I will! And the red snaps sound terrific.

I am new at collecting seeds - the plant files often have suggestions. Some plants "explode" their seed pods to scatter the seeds, so you are advised to put knee-high stocking around the pod. Just be sure to check the contents carefully - when I emptied one there was a big ugly bug earwig inside!

Under some plants there is a general disclaimer that the plant
"N/A: plant does not set seed, flowers are sterile, or plants will not come true from seed"

To prevent disappointing a whole bunch of people - maybe just try to germinate
10 seeds and see what happens.

There is a seed collecting forum for specific questions on how to collect seeds.

Profile:

Shirley, I'll send the seed as soon as it's ripe -- you have to sow it as soon as it's ripe because it has special germination requirements. You *could* sort of wintersow it, if you sow it when you get it, and leave it outside until spring, I think you'd lose a year, but it would work.

http://www.lilyseeds.com/growing.html#mart

I think this is the Rule of Thumb on lilies (Not martagons): If it has a stem this year, it should bloom next year. If it is still just some random leaves, then it probably won't bloom next year.

Seandor, Did you get some of my hybrid seed last year? I shouldn't laugh, but I sent out huge packs of F1 Ageratum seed last year. If somebody had sown the entire package, they would have gotten 18 plants -- that's what I got when I sowed the entire pack. No one would have sown that many seeds -- it must have been 1000! I think the F3 generation will be really good tho. BUT I'll check to make sure the germination is good before I send them out!

BTW, A lot of the marigolds I got in trades & swaps were weird plants -- all foliage and hardly any flowers. Am thinking they were from hybrid seed. (?)

Suzy

No - I didn't get any.

Here is a site that makes collecting seeds easier

http://www.theseedsite.co.uk/harvesting.html

part of the same site - shows what the seedpods and seeds look like

http://www.theseedsite.co.uk/seedpods.html

Suzy- the seeds of CM are the large dark things on the outside.

Seandor-Nice site, thanks for the link

Yes, Thanks -- to both of you. I have it bookmarked, but was able to look them up using the EZlinks. My bookmarks are a horriffic mess.
That Cerinthe major is wonderful!

I also have Gilia capitata, a sprawling thing, but I will grow it again because it blooms with the peonies and overwintered pansies. LOL! Would go well with Seandor's Fairy Linaria.

Here is a pic from May 25

Suzy

Suzy - are pansies perennial? Or did I misunderstand what you meant by "overwinter pansies" I have over 100 in the yard right now (some are starting to get leggy). I was going to gather seeds, then rip them out. But if they are perennial, I will simply cut them back, while the impatiens takes over.

Now you have me on a roll!!!! Pansies should be started now or in the next 3 weeks for your area. In about 2 weeks I'll start mine. If you start them inside, they might germinate better (since it will be in the 90s here next week) but I direct sowed last July and they were fine.

Here's the life span of pansies: They germinate. They grow a little. They bloom all through cool weather in the fall. And in MA, that's a good long time! They freeze and try to bloom every time the temperatures are above freezing. In spring, they go - go -go. When it's hot, the sun is at its highest., they poop out and go to seed -- the timing is the key. They set seed in July and they want to be sowed then, too.

I know I am on the wintersowing forum, but pansies are the worst seed for wintersowing that I can think of because their flowering cycle is at odds with the ws timing.

Shirley showed a photo of a pansy just starting to bloom, and it might fry in July & Aug and I doubt it will ever grow to the size and stature they can attain, but I would be interested to see what they look like in a months' time.

Where to plant pansies for the winter is also a key to getting them to be monster sized. They need winter sun, but not blazing bright. They love to be near paving (driveway, sidewalk, patio) which holds heat. I don't think a deck counts. If they are sort of cozied in, they are happiest and I plant mine sort of close together with some shelter from trees or pines. They do not like to be out on a penninsula, in full sun (think of the angle of the sun here, too, in winter the sun is very low) or where the west wind blows (I'm making that part up).

Here are some photos of mine. The clear crystal colors in this post were direct sown from old seed I just scattered July 2006. This photo is from May.

Suzy

These faced pansies were bought near Halloween-time from HD at a bargain price that was cheaper than seeds. This is what they look like frozen solid in the dead of winter.

Suzy

I can't find a pic of what that exact same area looked like in May or June, but here are some of the same ones from HD planted on or near Halloween 2006 planted in a different place to give you the idea. This photo was taken June 3, 2007 but I know I had pansies there in late March when we had that 3 weeks of great weather...then the flowers got frozen back and they started all over again. Sorry it's so fuzzy.

Suzy

Suzy: Thanks for the link to the website on growing Lilies from seed. Yes, I would love to try and wintersow a few.

It's very interesting to read that summer sowing Pansies are on the same reverse schedule as Hellebore seeds. Be that said, both plants go into full bloom production when the temps are cooler! Beautiful pictures too!

Seandor: Thanks for the link on the seed collecting sites. It helps to have a visual of how the seeds actually look. Yes, I knew about the old nylon stocking trick of capturing the seeds before they get dispersed all over one's garden. The stocking trick also helps when gardener plans to isolate certain plants from getting pollinated by insects and wind, which helps to prevent cross germination.

So suzy - I should just let my pansies self sow? I can collect some seed and start them - but it would be ever so convenient to just sow directly.

If you direct sow, you get about 5% germination, according to my calculations LOL! That's why wintersowing really *is* good -- less seed waste, and less seed needed.

Keep in mind they've been dropping seed all this time. I would collect some seed and sow in a 6" pot as insurance. Grow them as long as you can in the pot, and fill in holes in the bed where they are supposed to self sow. Or if the pansies do really well in the beds, you can just put the post inside a decorative pot and leave it on the porch.

You have to keep the bed where you want them to self sow open, weeded and watered. Are you ready to do that now? If not, just wait until you are, but once you decide to keep it watered, I don't think you should stop in the middle.

I have 3 pansy beds...one I switch out with Caladiums because the timing & siting is about perfect for both plants, as long as you start the Caladiums early and not in the ground. One I switch out with petunias -- the bed starts out blue and gradually turns pink as the petunias take over. The other one is a little nook the pansies share with daffodils and heuchera. Believe it or not, those do the very best, the soil is no soil at all -- just cedar tree needles dropping over 50 or so years.

Suzy

Okay - so you really want me to work, suzy - 100 pansies to start . . . . well, we'll see . . . too hot to think about this now.

My pansies haven't been making seeds because I keep deadheading them. I gues it is time to stop.

Whoops! Skip everything I said above, then, because deadheaded pansies won't self-sow!

How's this: If you have any packs of seed, just sow them sometime in July for a longer bloom than spring sowing can provide. Oh, and keep an eye out for bargains around mid to late Oct.

Suzy

Well - the pansies are still blooming. I just won't deadhead anymore. I will collect seed and also let them self-sow. (Are you sure I can just clip them back . . . and have them return this fall?)

No, I don't think I said that....and if I did, I didnt meant that :))

If the pansies are still blooming, let them bloom. If you want pansies for this fall, you have to start them from seed in the next 2 weeks or you have to buy them. Same thing if you want them to be big next spring...start them from seed in the next 2 weeks or buy them in the fall.

They are not perennials -- They die over the summer instead of over the winter like other annuals -- zinnias, marigolds and the like.

Suzy

Okay - that makes sense. Ummm do I want pansies for the fall? Probably. so start collecting seeds asap and get them started. Man, that is a lot of pansies to start. But, if the impatiens last until mid-sept. , then I plant out the pansies - I will have pansies this fall and spring too?

That sounds like a plan!

Let's see....I will have my "usuals" which include petunias, marigolds, nicotaina, cleome, snap dragon and a plethera of ornemental and hot peppers. Now that I think I'm an old pro at this I will have to take a gander in my garden to see which of the more unusual seeds I can save this year. I will take inventory and get with ya. ;-)

I haven't collected many seeds yet. I'm deadheading to get more flowers. If I collect them from the annuals, it will be in late summer and fall.

So far it's just columbine, digitalis, and blue larkspur I think. I was really torn about letting the larkspur set seed. I really wanted to encourage more flowers but since I want a lot of them next year I figured I'd better get seeds while I can. They maturing nicely now and I'm getting some daily. This was larkspur gentian blue from T&M, and they list it as a hardy annual, but it overwintered for me and came back beautifully. Here's a photo.

Karen

Now that's worth saving the seeds for winter sowing! Absolutely beautiful blue, Karen.

I am equally torn. Should I let the pansies go to seed so I can start new plants to put in the gardens this fall? Or do I deadhead them to continue to have pansies now?

I love the larkspur, Karen. That blue color is to die for! I'll be adding that one to my wish list for next year. How tall does it get?

As for seed collecting, I'm in the same boat as Seandor. I'd love to collect from the pansies, but want more flowers. So far, we have collected from two of our columbine, though.

Seeds that I will (hopefully) be collecting:

Dianthus barbatus
Viola x wittrockiana (mixed colors)
Coreopsis (Early Sunrise and Dwarf Red)
Datura (Ballerina Yellow, Ballerina Purple)
Sunflowers (Mammoth and Pastiche)
New Guinea impatiens
Lavatera trimestris
Papaver somniferum (Flemish Antique...my favorite flower this year!)
Nasturtium (Milkmaid and Caribbean Cocktail--another beauty!!!)
Zinnia (Peppermint Stick and Swizzle Cherry & Ivory)
Hollyhock (Chater's Double Mix, Peaches 'n Dreams)
Lupine (Minarette)
Hibiscus syriacus
Hosta (whatever cultivars set viable seed)
Thunbergia alata (Alba)
Morning glory (various cultivars)

I have several heuchera and astilbe and if I can figure out how to get the seed from them, I'll collect that as well. Tamara

On the seed collecting forum, they discuss "seed snatching" . . . opens up all kinds of possibilities!

Candyce: the blue larkspur was about a foot tall in it's first year, closer to 2 feet in the 2nd year, and bushy and full.

Karen

Karen, that Larkspur is absolutely breath taking! I LOVE it :)

Kim

Karen: I absolutely LOVE the gentian blue Larkspur! You have everyone drooling all over their computer keyboards!! :~)

Thanks, Shirley. I love it too. And pictures just don't do it justice. It's blue really is electric.

Karen

Now Karen, will that be an annual for you or will it remain a perennial? I have researched it and some sites say annual some say hardy annual (reseeds) and I think I have even read perennial. Is it a plant that will go to seed or is it sterile? I have never grown Larkspur so it's intrigued me :)

Kim

Here's a picture of that bed, taken June 19, so everything in that bed was much smaller than it is now. But it gives an idea of how it looks in a bed.

Karen

Kim: I bought the seeds from valueseeds 2 years ago, and it was listed as a hardy annual. T&M still sells it as a H.A. I left the roots and a few inches of stem in the ground in fall, and it definitely came back on the same plant, from the roots. Whether it will again remains to be seen.

It's producing seeds now, and I'm collecting them daily. I don't want to miss one.

Karen