Celosia Seeds, Flamingo Feather- how to dry

I have beautiful Celosia plants, one is dark purple, the other is much lighter purple/whitish. How do I dry these seeds and do they come back true and are they easy to grow from seed?

Just put the seeds in a paper bag or wrap in paper towels and put in a plastic bag. They come back true and are very easy to grow from seed - weedy actually. You really don't even have to collect seed unless you are giving them away.

Here is what can happen when you throw last year's plants on the compost heap.

I think (correct me if I'm wrong!!!) hcmcdole meant put the flower in a bag.

That is one of the prettiest compost piles I've ever seen, lol. Just for fun, did you let it grow?

Thanks! I'm glad they produce so easily. They are stunning by my stream. I could never image they would be so large, tall, and one of the best things in my garden this year. I noticed today there are TINY black seeds in the feather. I assume that is what I'm after.

They are great plants.
Kathy

I assume that means to put the stems with that I cut back in a bag without the leaf and let the feather drop seeds. Should I wait until the plants starts dying back - because they are beautiful now. I love these plants. I'll post pics later today.
Kathy

The flowering tops of the stems will start to dry up when the seeds have matured. Shaking the flower will release dozens of small, black round seeds. At this stage, clip the flowers off into a paper bag. Let them dry further for a few days, and then shake the bag vigorously. The seeds will fall to the bottom of the bag, and you can then collect them. I let them dry for another week or two on a paper plate, just to be sure they are dry enough to store well before putting them in a zip-top baggie.

(Thanks to DonnaB, who first shared these seeds with me and taught me how to do this!)

Oh, and my 'Flamingo Feather' Celosia looks like the one in your photo (pink/white, not dark purple). I got the seeds from DonnaB, and I've shared them around pretty widely... for me, they come true to the original pink color (with a little white)... so maybe your purple one is a lucky mutation? Depending on how close it was growing to the "ordinary" colored one, it might come true from seed or it might be crossed (in which case you could still get some purple blooms).

Even if you don't deliberately save seeds, you'll have some seedlings scattered around next year!

If you have purple blooming celosia spicata, then you will have purple bloomers from seed for the next generation too. I had pink before but they were not as vigorous as the purple ones (I like the purple better anyway). The pink had a very long bloom spike compared to the purple (some like it that way, some don't).

I never collect seeds of these anymore since I always have more than enough the next year. Just make sure you pull any you don't want early because once they get some size, they have a good size root which might take a digging tool to get out.

The seedlings I showed earlier (pictures take in June) are now this size.

They seed everywhere including cracks in our terrace. I use Round Up on a lot of the seedlings in cracks and let a couple of them grow.

LOL, they're remarkably tenacious, aren't they?

Kathy, I hope you do save seeds, especially from the purple one... I love the foliage on that plant!

I purchased both the pink/white and the dark purple. I'll have tons of seeds of both to share. The purple, as said above, is much larger, about 4 x larger than the pink and white. The stalks are like small trees.

I'll be posting seeds for them once they dry up. The purple doesn't look anywhere near ready.

I'll post pics later today.
Kathy

thanks to all

That *is* large! The pink 'Flamingo Feather' and 'Pink Candles' that I've had have grown to 3 or 4 feet in the right conditions, smaller if they're growing in a crack between pavers or some such. :-)

I had an 8 foot purple one a couple of years ago growing in a pot with a florist azalea. I guess it depends on water, soil, fertilizer, and how much space they have to grow in.

Good grief! Thanks for the warning. If I get seeds for the purple one, I'll be sure to put it at the very back of the bed!

The first year I grew them, I put them in a border along a path, thinking I'd seen a description of their height as 12 to 18 inches.... They looked a little silly at 3 feet tall, but they were too pretty to cut back!

I had to cut some of the tops out of mine so the sprinkler (3 foot tall) would not be blocked by the foliage.

More pictures

another but blurrrrred

by pond

notice the white plants in front and the size difference. Both are 1 plant

This message was edited Aug 28, 2007 1:21 PM

For an annual, that's nearly as impressive as the castor bean plant! Great photos -- and lovely gardens!!

I really like the foliage on those, too.

You're right - for an annual it's huge! I think Castor Bean would be the next biggest annual too. It's hard to believe it's this large. The stalk is huge and the plant is very sturdy. I love this plant. I will have tons of seeds if anyone wants them dmail me.

Kathy