Hi Gardeners
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| Heavenly Blue morning glory |
Some things of course, are done regardless of weather. The
ferns have browned and dried up. My petunias have straggled themselves out and the
million bells have only a few paltry blooms. The hostas are ragged and
yellowing. But the landscape type roses are going strong and blooming like crazy,
the dahlias are looking great, toad lilies are still blooming and some of the
mums. Sedum is blooming. Alyssum and both tuberous and bedding begonias are
blooming just fine.
The tall marigolds, nasturtium, zinnias, tithonia, cosmos
and that odd little anoda plant are all blooming. In fact, some of the seeds
must have lain dormant through the hot spell in spring and I have some younger
annual plants just starting to bloom.
The long mild fall has also allowed some perennials that
seeded themselves earlier in the year to start blooming, when normally they
would not have bloomed until next year.
I have young black eyed Susans and bellflowers blooming. If we escape frost for another week or two, I
may have a new batch of woodland nicotiana come into bloom. And a clematis I
planted this spring has managed to squeak out a single bloom, it had a rough
start, and I did not expect it to bloom this year.
One of the plants I did not think would mature in time
managed to burst into prolific bloom this week.
I planted what was supposed to be 2 ‘Heavenly Blue’ morning glories on
the front ramp rails. They grew like crazy but took forever to start
blooming. One of the plants turned out
to be the white flowered ‘Pearly Gates’ though.
I already had some moonflowers blooming on those rails but now I have
white flowers day and night. Because it’s late in the season the morning
glories are staying open most of the day.
Inside things are blooming well too. The Dipladenia is blooming far better under
the grow lights than it did outside. Streptocarpus and gerbera daisies are also
blooming nicely. My pink doubled
flowered hibiscus has 5 blooms today. I have a tiny flowered fuchsia called ‘Heron’
and African violets in bloom too.
All my geraniums and many other plants I over winter are potted
now but they are still outside on the deck. I do still have to pot one canna
and the taro. I leave my canna in pots and let them bloom on the porch until
about December, when they begin to go dormant. Then I just leave the tubers in
the pots until spring.
How are the bird at your house? I have noticed fewer and
fewer birds this fall. There are flocks of robins feasting on Autumn olive
berries in our old pasture as they migrate through, but our feeders are not
seeing the traffic we usually see this time of year. Last month I thought the birds absence was
probably because there was abundant natural food available. Now I am beginning
to wonder. I used to fill feeders every
2-3 days. Now they are going 10-14 days
before emptying. There are still plenty of squirrels though.
Collecting and storing
seeds
As the gardener strolls through the garden in late summer and fall he or she may notice a lot of seed pods hanging on various garden plants, maybe on some plants you never dreamed you could start from seeds. Wilderness hikers and people touring public gardens may also notice various seeds that they would like to collect. Many parks prohibit removing any plant material, and you should ask permission from someone in charge of a public or private garden before collecting seeds.
Please be considerate when collecting from public/natural areas, don’t take all the seeds. No one needs more than one milkweed pod, for example, since there are many seeds packed inside. If everyone collects as many pods as they see, there won’t be seeds left to replenish milkweed stands in natural areas. And seeds are winter food for many birds and other animals.
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| Milkweed pod |
But collecting the seeds won’t help you grow new plants if
you don’t know when to collect the seeds and how to store them correctly. Every plant species has different requirements
for optimizing the germination of its seeds, so it pays to know what species
you are collecting seeds from.
Seeds are plant embryos and the plant kingdom has devised
many ways to protect the baby plant inside until the time is right for it to
start growing. Some plants use a hard seed coat, some use chemicals and
some program their seeds to require periods of cold, alternating heat and cold
periods or periods of alternating moist and dry conditions before the seed
germinates.
Some seeds are ready to germinate the minute they hit moist
soil, others require months or years of dormancy before they awaken. Some
plants even have seeds with a variable dormancy, some sprout quickly; other
seeds from the same plant delay their sprouting for various periods of
time. This is to ensure that if conditions are poor when the first batch
of a plant’s seeds sprout, later sprouters may have better conditions.
Make sure they are ready
In most cases you want to collect the seed when the seed pod or fruit surrounding the seeds is fully ripe. Since we eat some fruits before they are fully ripe, like cucumbers, you must know what a ripe fruit looks like for that plant and wait to harvest the seeds. Corn should turn dry and hard on the stalk before saving seeds. Melons should be mushy ripe and the seeds black or dark brown for watermelon before harvest. Peppers must be fully ripe- and they can be many colors when ripe- and soft. Cucumbers are big and yellow or brown when ripe.
Most seed pods or seed heads turn brown and dry when the
seeds are ready to harvest. The opening of pods means the seeds are ripe. The
trick in collecting seed pods and seedheads to get the seeds is to not let them
split or otherwise disperse the seeds before you collect them, but still be
mature. On a warm day a closed pod in the morning may have shot off the
seeds or dropped them on the ground by evening.
If seed pods and seedheads are almost dry and nearly ready to harvest you can cut them and put them in paper bags in a warm dry place to finish drying. Separate the varieties and species because they may drop the seeds. Or you can surround seed heads or pods with paper bags and tie them right on the living plant.
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| These cleome pods are ripe and splitting |
Collect seeds on a warm, sunny dry day if at all
possible. It’s best to collect most types of seed before a heavy frost or
freeze but collection after that can still work for many seeds. I know
some of you will collect seeds on the spur of the moment and stick them in your
pocket, but it’s really better to make seed collecting an organized activity.
Carry bags or envelopes to separate species or cultivars and something to label
the bags. You may want tape to seal bags or envelopes.
Label your bags! This is the biggest mistake
amateurs make, they think they will remember what plants they saved seed from.
And when they get ready to plant them they will be on line posting pictures and
asking other gardeners to help them remember.
If you don’t know the name of the plant you collected seeds from at
least write a description of the leaves and flowers or what the fruit or pod
looked like and keep that with the seeds.
Sometimes gardeners have a hard time distinguishing the
actual seeds from the seed pods, or remnants of flowers and fruit. Put the
ripe seed heads or pods in paper bags then close and shake them. You may
see loose seeds in the bottom. If you can’t decide what is a seed and what
is the pod or husk, save it all.
Some plants make seed pods or even fruit and yet there are
no seeds inside. Lilies often do this. Some hostas make pods that don’t have seeds
too. When gathering pods take a look inside some of them. If they don’t have
seeds it’s probably a sterile plant and useless to collect.
In most cases a ripe pod or seed head will split or otherwise
open or drop its seeds, but in some cases even ripe pods must be opened.
Some flowers like Echinacea, rudbeckia, zinnia and others with daisy like
flowers will have a bit of dried petal attached to the seed. Even when dry some
of these flower heads must be pulled apart to separate the seeds.
One note of caution here.
Do not try to dry seeds you want to germinate in the microwave, oven
or food dehydrator. That’s ok for seeds you are going to eat but it will
kill the embryo’s in seeds you want to use for planting.
Sometimes fruit needs to rot
In some cases, for seeds to be properly stored and then
sprout, the fruit must first rot or ferment. Rotting fruit keeps seeds
moist for a while. And chemicals caused by the decomposition process may
be necessary in some cases to soften the seed coat. The most common
garden plant that really needs fermentation is the tomato. While you can
cut open a very ripe tomato and extract the seeds for storage, it’s better to
let the tomato turn to a rotting, fermenting mush before separating out the
seeds, drying them and saving them. Germination rates will be
higher.
Many seeds are prepared for germination in nature by passing
through some animal’s digestion system. You can ferment or rot fruits in a
nicer way though. Simply place a ripe fruit in an open container and let
it sit for a while. You can cut the fruit in pieces if needed. Label
the containers if you have several varieties of something to ferment.
You’ll want to put the containers somewhere where you don’t smell them and the
flies they attract won’t bother you. Make sure animals can’t eat
them.
Let the fruit rot until it’s a watery, smelly unrecognizable
mass. Then put the contents in a fine wire mesh strainer and gently rinse
with clean water until clean seeds are left in the strainer. Spread the
seeds on a piece of screen and let them dry in a warm, dark place until they
look and feel thoroughly dry before storing. If you spread the seeds on
newspaper or paper towels they often stick to the paper as they dry and can be
hard to remove.
Storing seeds
When you do have the seeds separated from pods and fruit let
them dry for a few more days in a warm dark location. Almost all garden
seeds need to be thoroughly dry before storing them, so they don’t mold or
rot. Clean out pieces of stem, pod and other debris before storing.
It’s best to place seeds in paper packages, cheap envelopes
work, even a twist of tissue or fold of newspaper, before placing them in
larger sealed glass or plastic containers. This helps absorb moisture. You can
add a bit of powdered milk wrapped in tissue to each container to absorb
moisture too. Once again- label containers, (or the packets inside),
there’s nothing worse than forgetting what kinds of seeds you carefully saved.
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| Ligularia seed head |
After your seeds are packaged store the seeds of most common
garden plants in the refrigerator crisper drawer or another cool, dry dark
spot. Most plants grown in temperate climates, both natives and nonnatives,
annuals and perennials need a period of cold dormancy before they
germinate. Even if they don’t, they will store better in a cool location.
Common garden annuals, perennials and bi-annuals like
zinnias, marigolds, cleome, calendula, nasturtium, annual sunflowers, petunias,
poppies, hollyhocks, coleus, begonias, dill, borage, basil, sage, thyme,
carrots, lettuce, beets, radishes, spinach, cabbage, Brussels sprouts,
cauliflower, broccoli, peas, beans, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, melons,
squash, pumpkins, and cucumbers can simply be stored dry in a cool place.
Many common garden perennials need stratification to
germinate properly. These include; Aconitum, Alchemilla, Asclepias
(Milkweed), Baptisia, Bloodroot, Buddleia, Candytuft, Caryopteris, Chelone,
Cimicifuga, Clematis, Chinese Lantern, Delphinium, Eremurus, Evening Primrose,
Filipendula, Fuchsia, Gentians, true Geranium species (Cranesbill Geranium),
Helianthemum, Helianthus, Heliopsis, Helleborus, Heuchera, Hardy Hibiscus,
Hypericum, Incarvillea (Hardy Gloxinia), Knautia, Lavender, Marsh Marigold,
Mazus, Nepeta (Catmint), Penstemon, Persicaria, Phlox (all types),
Platycodon, Primrose, (all types), Ranunculus, Rudbeckia (Black-eyed Susan,
most types), Saponaria (Soapwort), Saxifrage, Scabiosa, Sedums, Sempervivums
(Hen-and-Chicks), Sidalcea, St. John’s-Wort, Stokesia, Thalictrum, Tiarella,
Tricyrtis (Toad-lily), Veronica, Violas, Violets, Virginia Bluebells.
Gardeners can achieve stratification by simply planting the
seeds of the above plants in the fall in the ground where you want them to grow
and marking the spot. Or you can plant the seeds in pots, (label those
pots!), of potting mix, well moistened and sink them in the ground and cover
with mulch. Remove the mulch when the ground thaws.
I do not recommend winter sowing in milk jugs and other
things. The jugs often get plants growing too early, then they are killed by a
hard freeze. Or the plants get too hot
in sunny weather and cook. Often they don’t drain well and seeds rot. Or conversely,
they don’t allow enough water to get inside. If you want to winter sow don’t
enclose the pots, plant in open pots or in the ground.
A compromise is to place the seeds in moist vermiculite in containers in the crisper of the refrigerator, which will be cold enough for most seeds. They won’t freeze and thaw like outside, but 12 weeks of this cold treatment will get most of them to germinate. After 12 weeks bring them to a warm sunny spot to start growing.
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| Akebia fruit with seeds |
Seeds that should not be stored very long
These seeds should be planted soon after you collect
them. If they are cold hardy, you can plant them outside. Otherwise plant
them in pots inside. The sooner they are planted the better
germination will be. These seeds are; Anthurium, Asparagus species, Clivia,
perennial Delphinium, Geranium (Pelargonium), Gerbera, Ginkgo, Impatiens,
Kochia, Philodendron, Magnolia, onions, Passiflora, Potentilla, Salvia
splendens, Tanecetum coccinium (or Pyrethrum).
Some of these seeds can be stored for a short time, but
germination drops with age. Store them in a cool, dry, dark spot.
Some tropical plant seeds may do better in warmer storage
and some seeds may actually need freezing temperatures to properly prepare them
for germination. The person collecting the seeds should look up what
storage and germination requirements for each species are. If it’s a cultivated species this information
is readily available. If it’s a native variety that’s fairly common that
information is also available. But for some native plant species you’ll need to
be a bit of a detective to find out what its seed storage and germination needs
are.
Remember not all seeds produce plants that look just like
the parent. If you collect seeds from hybrid plants the offspring grown from
seed may be a different color, size or shape. And sometimes seeds from certain
species are very difficult to germinate.
Seed collecting is a fun and thrifty way of getting new
plants. So this fall take a walk around your garden and save some seeds to
experiment with in spring.
"The trees are in their autumn beauty,
The woodland paths are dry,
Under the October twilight the water
Mirrors a still sky."
-William Butler Yeats-
Kim Willis
All parts of this blog are copyrighted and may not be
used without permission.
Contact author at kimwillis151@gmail.com
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