.jpg)
It is that time of year, things are starting to dry up and we are tearing up plants BUT before you do be sure to save their seeds!
This will be the first in a series of posts I do this month about saving seeds as the season comes to an end. It seems most seed suppliers are selling out, so this year it is even more important than ever to save those seeds.
I do not grow a lot of flowers because honestly I am just really bad at it, but I finally successfully grew calendulas and strawflowers this year and have just started saving their seeds.
CALENDULA
The first step when saving calendula seeds, is to let the flower dry on the stem. Once it look something like the below image, you will want to pick it/cut it.
You want it to be completely brown, with no green.
Then you will just pull it apart and see large C shaped brown seeds you can see in the photo above.
Easy as that!
STRAWFLOWER
Just like with the calendulas, you will want to wait to cut your strawflower you plan to use for seeds, until it starts to die. Unlike the calendula, they won't turn brown but the leaves will start to fall back and the center will start to puff up and separate, like this:
At this point you will just pull out the center of the flower and there you have your seeds.
Strawflower seeds are teeny tiny, and at the end of the center fluff.
Be sure to store your seeds in a cool dry place. I prefer to store them in paper envelopes so if any moisture presents itself it will absorb it and not harm the seeds as much.
Remember as a rule of thumb with all seed saving, look for the biggest and best seeds to save, I generally save them all because I feel bad throwing any out, but you will have the best luck with the big seeds!
Next up, saving tomato seeds!