Saving Flower Seeds
by Diane Linsley
When I told my daughter that I was
writing this article, she said, “Be sure
to tell them they don’t have to save
to your socks and get spread around
the garden that way....Oh, and don’t
forget to tell them that nigella and
poppy seeds are fun to save because
you can pretend the pods are salt and pepper shakers.”
She has some good points. The first is that you probably don't need to worry about saving seeds from self-sowing annuals, unless you want to give them to your friends. If you just want to grow them in another part of the garden, all you have to do is gather the seeds when they’re ripe and scatter them immediately in their new location.
Another point is that seed saving is an adventure for the whole family, and children or grand-children should be involved. After all, seed saving is a way of preserving plants for future generations, and what better way to insure the future of our plant heritage than to teach children how to save seeds?
Although saving flower seeds is a mostly straightforward and intuitive process, I have a few tips that should make it easier to get started. There are five basic steps to seed saving: observation, harvesting, drying, cleaning and storing.
Observation means that plants will let you know when their seeds are ready for harvest if you pay attention and become acquainted with their life cycle. Seeds must be harvested at the right time for maximum viability. They are produced in either pods or seedheads. Pods are ready to harvest when they become dry and brittle, just before they split open and spill their contents. A good example is the sweet pea. If you pick the pods too early, the seeds will be green. But if you wait too long, the pods will pop open, scattering the seeds. You can choose the ripe pods by feel. They should start to split when you squeeze them. Poppy seeds are produced in pods that resemble salt shakers. They are ready to harvest when the pods snap off the stems. If they bend, give them more time.
Flowers like calendula and zinnia produce seedheads. When the seeds are ripe, the seedhead shatters. They are also harvested by feel. I can tell when they're ripe because the seehead falls apart in my hand when I rub it between my fingers. Color is another clue: calendula seeds will turn from green to brown when they are ripe.
When going out to harvest seeds, I stuff my pockets with snack-size ziploc bags, which are perfect for small amounts of seeds. I also bring a couple of stainless-steel mixing bowls for larger quantities. Other equipment includes scissors and thorn-proof gloves for harvesting eryngium seeds.
Never harvest wet seeds. It’s better to wait for dry weather. Seeds should be dried in a well-ventilated room with an ideal temperature between 70 and 95 degrees. This is the temperature range of our house in the summer time. Alternatively, you can dry seeds in a garage, as long as they're out of direct sunlight.
It’s usually not necessary to remove the seeds from the pods before drying, as long as they were not harvested wet. One exception is lavatera. I’ve had problems with lavatera seeds going moldy if they're not cleaned the same day they are harvested. When you harvest pods from plants like sweet peas, California poppies and castor beans, you’ll need to cover the mixing bowl with a piece of window screen, cheesecloth or other lightweight fabric that will allow air circulation but keep the exploding pods from shooting the seeds out of the bowl. Or you can put them in a paper bag and close the top.
Small quantities of seeds can be dried in plastic cups, on small plates, or in snack-size ziploc bags. If using a bag, prop it open with a toothpick to provide air circulation. It helps to shake down the seeds to a single layer so they'll dry evenly. The seeds should be turned over or stirred around every few days. Be sure to label the container with the name of the plant. Seeds can take anywhere from 1-4 weeks to dry completely. Drying time depends on the size of the seed, as well as the temperature and humidity of the room.
I like to clean my seeds after they’ve been drying for a few days. The chaff is easier to remove when it's dry, but the seeds will still need further drying after they are cleaned. The cleaning process requires the following equipment: several different sizes of stainless-steel mixing bowls, a box fan, and a kitchen strainer (with a metal screen). I’ve developed several different methods for cleaning seeds. Here are some examples:
Poppies: Place the pods in a gallon-size, plastic bag. Close the top, and shake vigorously until the seeds fall out of the pods. Dump the contents into a strainer held over a mixing bowl. Shake the strainer a few times, then throw away the empty pods. With the box fan turned on low (outside the house, of course), slowly pour the seeds back and forth between two mixing bowls until the dust-like chaff is blown away, and you’re left with clean seeds. Spread out the seeds on a plate or a cookie sheet to finish drying.
Zinnias: After drying for a few days, loosen the seeds from the chaff by rubbing the shattered seedheads vigorously between your hands (wear gloves). Use two mixing bowls and the fan, as described above, to separate the seeds from the chaff.
Campanula, heuchera and other tiny seeds: These dust-like seeds cannot be cleaned with a fan. After putting them through the strainer to remove the largest pieces of chaff, blow on them with your breath while shaking the mixing bowl. It takes a while to get the hang of it, but soon you’ll be able to get the seeds perfectly clean. Please wear goggles to protect your eyes from the irritating dust. This is not a good activity for people with contact lenses, asthma or sinusitis.
By the time I’m finished cleaning the large amounts of seeds that I need for my business, I’m covered with seed dust and itching all over. Now it’s time for a hot shower and some Xlear nasal wash (from xlear.com).
Once the seeds are totally dry, they should be stored in a cool, dry, dark place. We have a cold storage room in our basement, but a refrigerator works, too. If you are only saving the seeds until next spring, you can be less concerned about temperature – even a bedroom closet will work. Don’t store seeds in a humid place like the kitchen or bathroom. I don’t recommend storing seeds in a garage because of the fluctuating temperatures. Some seeds require a period of dry-cold refrigeration after harvesting. The following seeds are always stored in the fridge: aster, belamcanda, daylily, lily, hibiscus and agastache. To protect them from humidity, put them in airtight containers like glass jars or ziploc bags (double bagged in the fridge).
I don't think a gardener can really appreciate the life cycle of plants until they have tried saving seeds. As a beginner gardener, I always deadheaded my plants to prolong the bloom season. But now I appreciate my plants in all their stages of life. To me, the seed pods and seedheads are just as beautiful as the flowers. You know the saying: “All the flowers of all the tomorrows are in the seeds of today.”
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