Gone to Seed

Gone

to seed!

By Rachael Leverton

Gardening is a hobby and, after a while, most people with hobbies find themselves experimenting. They get a bit creative and want to see if they can do something on the cheap, or for free, or simply find to out whether it’s possible to do something just for the simple pleasure of trying. Seed collecting falls into this category for me. Most seeds are not particularly expensive to buy, so why would I or anyone else want to collect our own? Well I can’t speak for anyone else, but I get a real buzz from collecting seed, knowing that I can perpetuate a favourite plant without any outside involvement. Sometimes I’ll collect seed with a fair degree of certainty that I’ll be able to raise hundreds of little seedlings, and sometimes I do it for the challenge, as not all seeds are easy to propagate. If you want to have a go at seed collecting (and be warned, it’s a highly addictive pastime) then here are a few tips. You will need: Large paper bags – Must be paper. Plastic bags won’t do as they retain moisture and cause the seeds to develop fungus or go mouldy. You can buy them from eBay or make your own from brown paper and artist’s paper tape. Felt pen - for labelling. This is important as you will forget what you’ve collected even if you think you won’t! Box or trug - for carrying the bags of seeds around the garden. Small pair of scissors or secateurs – for snipping the heads. Choose a dry day with little or no wind. Select a healthy, pest and disease-free plant with seedpods which look as though they’re about to split. Label a paper bag (it’s much easier to do this first) then cut off the seedhead and turn it upside down into the bag. Place the bag into a dry place and wait for the seeds to ripen. Check regularly. When most of the seedpods have opened, tip out the contents on to a dry surface and separate all the seeds from any remaining bits of pod. Store the clean seeds in a small, labelled paper bag or envelope, in a cool dry place until ready to be used.

Easy seeds to collect and grow

Nigella damascena (love-in-the-mist) Aquilegia (ladies bonnets) Papaver (Poppy) Digitalis Purpurea (Foxglove) Helianthus annuus (Sunflower) Cosmos bipinnatus (Cosmos) Lunaria annua (Honesty) You’ll soon discover many more. Happy collecting. Happy Gardening