Save Money On Garden Gifts By Harvesting Seeds
Now that the summer blooms are starting to fade, it’s time to start thinking about harvesting seeds from my favorite flowers. Saving seeds from my flowers is a good idea because it helps me start those same plants somewhere else in my garden and I know my fellow gardeners appreciate receiving them as a gift.
And I don’t need to spend a dime!
You may have already tagged the biggest and brightest flowers in your garden in anticipation of seed harvesting. Well, aren’t you planning ahead! However, the rest of us are now starting to tour our garden and select our plants for harvesting.
Be sure the seeds are ready. If you try to gather seeds too early, they just won’t grow next year. A good sign is when the flower head has started turning brown. Watch it closely because each day can make a big difference and you don’t want to miss the window. Otherwise, Mother Nature’s breezes will blow them to and fro! (Great for ensuring the flowers show up next year but not so great if you want to gather seeds yourself!)
With some plants (like zinnias and marigolds), you need to gently remove the dry flower petals to get to the seeds at the base of the petals. Others, like cleomes, have a separate seed pod that starts to turn brown as the seeds inside are ready to harvest.
Make sure you have a container ready to catch the seed treasures. You may want to gently shake the seeds into an envelope, plastic container or jar. I’ve also seen people tie a plastic bag or a piece of nylon hosiery around a flower head or seed pod to make sure the seeds are caught whenever they begin to fall. Regardless of how you gather the seeds, avoid mildew by making sure they’re dry before you store them away.
In this short video I’ll show you how easy it is to harvest seeds from cleomes, tall pink and lavender perennial flowers I always enjoy in my garden:
See, harvesting seeds isn’t difficult at all. In fact, it’s fun to be able to expand your garden next year or give a gift from your garden to someone else. Either way, you save money!
Harvesting and sharing seeds gets our green thumbs up!
