At long last some of the wildflowers I planted last year are blooming. I can see that there are frequently bees on them, so hopefully they are being pollinated.
I would like to collect wildflower seeds from flowers that I would like to propagate and then spread them over bare patches to try and fill them in. How do I recognize when the seeds are ready to be harvested? How do I harvest them, just yank the bloom off of the stem? I planted a flower assortment with:
Purple Giant Hyssop, Dwarf Columbine, Siberian Wallflower, Shasta Daisy, Lance-Leaved Coreopsis, Sweet William Pinks, Purple Coneflower, Blanketflower, Gayfeather, Blue Flax, Perennial Lupine, Russell Lupine, Maltese Cross, Dwarf Evening Primrose, Mexican Hat, Dwarf Red Coneflower, Black-Eyed Susan, Moss Verbena
I probably will spread them after the first frost so they grow in the spring.
For things that have a short time between ready and gone with the wind, I use organza bags, like for wedding favors, just put one over the top when it’s almost there and it will collect them without hindering the drying process. Some people use paper bags and twine, but this is cuter.
Maybe I’m weird or abusing my plants but I like to just trim my flowers and wrap the heads in some cheese cloth or terry cloth and just leave it somewhere dry to come back to in a couple days.
But this is a very cute idea.
Excellent, FREE book on seed saving is available for download at the Seed Savers Exchange. [Seedsavers.org)] IIRC
No, it’s by Suzanne Ashworth and David Cavagnaro. It’s free here, as well https://archive.org/details/seedtoseedseedsa0000ashw
Amazing, thank you :) I’ve been saving seed from my vegetables for a few years and would love to do more of it.
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How do I recognize when the seeds are ready to be harvested? How do I harvest them, just yank the bloom off of the stem?
flowers have different ways of seeding themselves. the answer depends very much on what their solution to reseeding is. You definitely need to wait for them to dry. Most flowers have dozens, some hundreds of seeds on every fruit(?) With some i just hold a bag under the fruit(?) and shake. With some others i have to actually pluck the grains.
but you don’t need to wait till “after the frost”, you can take the grains and seed them immediately
How did the Moss verbena look?
But love the wildflower love and the pollinator support.
