It’s almost the end of seed gathering season so take advantage of these dry, crisp autumn days to gather what’s left in your garden. Harvesting your seeds helps make preparing your garden for winter a more pleasurable task.
Why gather seeds?
- You can duplicate what was in your garden in other areas
- You can share with fellow gardener friends.
- You can start your next garden earlier.
- It saves you money.
- It adds enjoyment to gardening chores.
As you prepare your flower beds for the winter, deadhead and collect the seed pods and flower heads. Make sure the flower heads are completely dry (if not, place in paper bags until dry). Gently remove the seeds and separate the chaff (seed casings and coverings).
Make sure you label your seeds as soon as possible! Store seeds in marked envelopes in a dry, cool place. The refrigerator is the perfect place. Use any leftover flower heads in simple, decorative arrangements.
Here are four flowers we love to gather their seeds!
Butterflies love these flowers. (They all came from our butterfly garden).
- Sunflowers
- Black-eyed Susans
- Coneflowers
- Zinnias.
