There is something incredible about saving seeds from my own garden & planting them for next yearâs garden. This time of year is perfect for gathering seeds from your garden or adding seeds to a list to buy so you can seed save next year.
^some seeds I've saved from my garden this year.
The two most important things (in my experience) are 1. waiting until the seeds have matured enough on the plant so that theyâre viable as seeds. This means waiting for the flowers to grow & die back. If a flower is left on the plant, after the flowering process it will produce a seed pod. Leave the seed pod to mature. Sometimes, youâll know itâs mature by being able to literally hear the seeds if you shake the seed pod. I recommend starting seed saving with calendula, poppies, nigella, silene, and columbine.
Some of my favorites that donât have rattling seed pods: calendula, marigolds, cosmos, bachelor buttons, feverfew, rudbeckia, zinnias, coneflower, snapdragons, and calendula. For these, I simply recommend waiting until the seeds look dry/brownish. My best recommendation is to learn as you go along! Simply cut a few âspentâ blooms and start to dig into them. If the seeds look green, itâs probably a bit too early.
âŚand then 2. Letting the seeds dry out before storage. Where Iâm at, itâs so rainy that leaving the plants on the stems into October/November means they get pretty wet. So I let them dry out for a day or more before putting them in my storage space! Iâve never had a moldy seed grow, so this step is crucial.
Reminder: seeds are still viable if they've been rained on AS LONG AS the seeds are not already sprouting OR moldy. You simply need to dry them out before storage.
I went to a friend's house this past weekend for a seed swap (picture of my seed basket that I gathered and the seeds I shared below!). 10/10 definitely recommend connecting for a seed swap! I might even host one via mail this winter if there's interest =)
If youâre new here, Hi! Iâm Hannah, the gardener behind Rooted Cottage Gardening. I love connecting with beginning & intermediate gardeners, sharing everything I do in my garden, & helping you decrease overwhelm. I focus on gardening for the bees & other pollinators, building beautiful soil, and growing for beauty blooms in every season (yes even winter!). I designed my Cottage Garden to be a cut flower garden and I harvest & make bouquets each week for my community.
In this Newsletter, I share everything I do in my gardens after over a decade of growing loads of veggies, fruit, & perennial flowers. Subscribe below to be notified whenever I share new garden tips.
Also, I am firmly against using generative AI in my work; Everything I share has been written/created by me from my own experience in my garden.
Happy seed saving!! Cheering you on in your garden & in life,
Hannah
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