Help on identifying Seeds From New York Aster

I have a beautiful Thyra Viking New York Aster and would like to save seeds from it. I picked a couple of the blooms that seem to be dried and opened them. There is some beige fly-a-way stuff at the top of the pod but when I open it up further, it's hard to see exactly what the seed is. Can you help me by describing what I should be looking for? Thank you,

Linda

Asters are ready for seed harvesting when they turn into little puff balls like a dandelion....they will have little parachutes with a seed stuck to the end of it.

http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/91935/

these are New england Aster seeds, but all Asteraceae will look similar.

THANK YOU Melody. You are confirming kind of what I thought. When I took apart the dried flower, your picture is exactly what mine looked like. I feel better now knowing for sure what I should keep as the seeds.

Linda

Happy to help!

Something that you might want to consider....named varieties of plants generally do not come true from saved seeds. They are usually hybrids. I'm not familiar with your plant, so I can't say for sure. But, while most hybrids set seeds, and they will grow and bloom, they may not resemble the parent. You may get something close, but most times not all of the characteristics that the parent has, will not be passed on the the offspring. If your Aster is Open Pollinated, then it WILL come true from saved seeds, and each new generation will look exactly like the last.

It's something that you may want to research a bit if you are wanting seedlings that are exactly like the plant that you love.

Someone I am trading with has asked me for this seed.

I have asked several well-educated gardening friends about the point you are bringing up. As a matter of fact, we were talking about this the other day.

EXACTLY how do you know that a plant will or won't come true from seed. I understand that if a seed or plant is labeled as an F1 Hybrid, it will not come true. But there are tons of other plants out there, that have names and there is seed sold for them and they are not marked as F1.

Is there a rule of thumb to use when evaluating seeds for reproduction of favorite plants, without taking cuttings or digging and dividing?

Linda

Generally if it has a 'name' such as Thyra Viking, it is a developed hybrid.....this is not always the case, but a good rule of thumb. Some named plants are OP and will reproduce true if they are not cross-pollinated by another plant of the same species. I would trade seeds with your friend with the understanding that you don't know what they will get. You ought to plant a few yourself for your own information in future years.

You are correct about the F1 designation, in nearly all cases, they will NOT come true....some will though...case in point...the little 'Santa' F1 grape tomatoes that you get at the supermarket will grow 95% true from seeds saved.

Lots of times you'll get something very similar...height, bloom time, bloom size, color and how prolific they bloom are things that can vary. You might get an aster that looks like yours, only the blooms are smaller...or the plant is taller.

It's a hard call to answer your question...it's one of those things that you sort of absorb as you save seeds from year to year...spectacular disasters are fantastic learning experiences.....trust me...been there done that.

And then there is one more point to add here. How about the hybrid plants that don't produce ANY seeds, or their seeds are sterile.

This is such a difficult thing to understand. I know that when you do a plant search here at Dave's, many times you will see info that a particular plant doesn't come true to seed. For example, I have a Marguite Daisy called "Comet Pink", bought as an annual for my zone. It is one of my favorite plants this year and I'd love to have it again next year. There's no guarantee that Lowe's will sell it again next season, and I was very disappointed to see that its seeds do not grow true. Recently I picked up a blue Marguite from a seed trade, and did research before trading. I found out that this plant can be grown from seeds. I'm going to plant some of my Comet Pink seeds just to see if they germinate anyway and I'll see what I get.

Linda

Most times if the plant makes seeds, they will germinate...you are correct that some seeds are sterile, but in most cases, they will grow.