Has anyone collected seeds from yarrow? Instructions in the data base said let heads dry on plants and then collect seeds. Can't really define seeds when I rub the heads. It looks like the little dried heads just dividing into millions of pieces. Can anyone explain in a little more detail?
Yarrow
Anybody out there who can help?
trunnels,
I've never intentionally collected seed from yarrows (Achillea) , but I can tell you that the common yarrow (the white one that grows wild in some areas, like mine and I can't get rid of it no matter what I do 8=}) will reseed itself very aggressively without any help whatsoever. From that I assume that when the seed is ready it must just drop off the flower head and sprout. I'm not sure that seed collected from all of the hybrids will come true to form. I've grown several different kinds, however, and if you want to give it a try I would just collect all the little pieces and sprinkle them onto the soil. I know it's not a very scientific answer to your question, but only the common yarrow and the Achillea ptarmica reseeded for me. The others most likely need to be propogated by some other means. Sorry I couldn't help more.
sharvis
After the heads dry on the plant, remove them and put them in a paper sack to finish drying or to make sure they are dry for a couple of days.
Yarrow seeds are so tiny, most people crush up the whole flowerhead and sow seeds and chaff. It works, I've started quite a few yarrows this way.
Thanks, Sharvis and Debby! I have put everything in a baggy to spread this spring in my own bed but with the chaff, I don't think I'll be trading the yarrow! Lol :)
It's okay to trade it. Most people understand that on some flowers you can't ignore the chaff.
Yes, yarrow seed is small, so, like sedum, you must put up with a bit of chaff. Plant it all and have faith the seed is there!
Thanks. Weezingreens, do you remove your sedum heads before they go totally brown and dried out?
No, I usually wait until they've dried. I've collected seed from Autumn Joy and Sedum acre. I couldn't see the seed in either one, but when planted, up they came!
Thanks. This is really the first year I have harvested seeds and I'm loving it.
Wait til you plant them and they start popping up. That's a real thrill!
I can't wait!
I purchased a plant last year, don't know the name, but it is terra cotta colored. Then right after it started blooming a month or so ago, one came up about 20 feet away and I thought it would probably be the same except that the terra cotta one had just started blooming for the first time, but it was red. Really cool. Don't know where it came from.
Maybe I will try to gether seed from both of them.
Jeanette
I don't know if the seed will be true to the mother plant, if they are all millifolium, just different cultivars. However, if you give it a chance to spread, it will send out underground shoots and pop up all over... perhaps more than you'd like!
Trunnels: You probably already know this, but as you collect seed or flowerheads, be sure NOT to seal them in plastic (Did I read baggie?). Plastic's ok, but if you actually SEAL the plastic bag, drying seed will mold in just a few days. I learned the hard way. A huge amount of gathered seed heads (they looked dead and brown) had enough moisture left in them to release it into the sealed plastic bag, and mold ruined about 10 hrs. work in no time. Paper bags are best.
Thanks for all the info! FLVT123, I also found out the hard way! Lost quite a few seeds before I bought some paper envelopes.
I have seeds in paper cups all over my house right now, just for that reason. Once they are dry (most in a week or so), I seal them in little plastic bags, but not before I'm sure they're dry.