Seed Snatchin' XIX

By all odds, the seeds are in the pods
So it's up to us to get on the bus!

Yes, it's time to grab whatever you use to collect seeds and get down to the crossroads and wait for the bus to pick you up. Who's drivin' this year?

Oh golly, it's been much too long since I drove that schoolbus for field trips down on Jekyll Island... somebody else had better take the wheel!

I've only been snatchin' in my own yard this week (shameful, I know), but I've got little heaps of milkweed, bloody dock, and catnip seed (over 1/4 cup, so I hope people will want it this winter!) drying on plates on the buffet. I've also got smaller numbers of several other seeds (like 'Sweet Pickles' pepper) drying on paper towels.

LOL, I forgot half of what was out in those little dishes!

... and hollyhocks, and love-in-the-mist, and columbines, and rose campion!

Hey, WZ!

I was just snatchin' tonight (and Friday night, too!) as a matter of fact! I got about 100 mostly-red with some orange and yellow Lantana seed and a whole bunch of bedding Salvia for my red bed Then as long as I was there, I got some Salvia 'Victoria' and Red Verbena. I had a camera, but with all the little bags I had, I couldn't carry everything, and then I forgot. Regarding the Lantana, it needs an earlier start than wintersowing , but it is very easy and relatively fast -- about like petunias.

Mr. Clean comes with me, but the only thing he'll do is keep me company and maybe hold a bag open. I'd rather go on the bus with you guys!

Where did I go seed snatchin', you might ask? The POLICE STATION! LOL!

I have to go look up Bloody Dock ......see ya at the bus stop!

Suzy

LOL! The police station! Way to go, Suzy! Critter, you and Suzy are way ahead of me. The seed heads are still green on my columbine, but I did manage to collect a few seeds from my Viola langsdorfi, and a few seeds from my white Saxifraga arendsi. The real seed snatching starts in another couple weeks to a month around here.

The Bloody Dock made a nice edging plant. http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/1999/ I wasn't actually expecting to see it in spring, somehow had it in my head that it was an annual, but there it was! It promptly went to seed, however, and got a little messy. I'm guessing I'll have it as an edging plant again next year, and in increasing numbers, LOL.

I've been reading, lurking and laughing on these Seed Snatchin' threads for a few years and now I think I've got enough nerve to try it! But the POLICE STATION?!? NO WAY!

I'll try the fire station, though. It's right next to my favorite perennial nursery and they do the plantings there as a community service!

I started S S this week in my own garden with various liatris seeds, my tassel flower, nicotiana and some cone flowers seeds. All drying in pie plates on the kitchen counters. My kids (not really kids--college students) are rolling their eyes every time they pass by.

I think we'll be on a seed snatchin' roll around here in a few weeks, too.

Call me if you need to be bailed out of jail. I'll trade bail money for some really good seeds (up to $20 that is!)

I have seed bags, sandwich bags, and usually small scissors in my purse, they'll stay there until winter. You never know when you're going to make a great find, and it's good to be prepared.

Mostly though I gather my own seeds and some from neighbors. Nothing I do surprises them anymore. They just laugh when they come out of their houses and find me deadheading their flowers, searching recycle bins for milk jugs, collecting bags of grass clippings and fall leaves. Some neighbors even deliver their leaves to my house. The seed collecting seems normal to them compared to my taking their garbage for my compost or lasagna beds, milk jugs cluttering porch and patio for wintersowing, etc.

My husband fears that they'll call me "that crazy flower lady".

Karen

Critter, I've been growing bloody dock as an annual, as well. I just love the way it looks. I don't think it would winter over in my zone 3, but neither does it bolt! Tabasco, way to go! You know, I think being the crazy old flower lady is a distinct advantage. People tend to accept my weird behavior without accusing me of stealing. If something thinks, 'You'd have to be crazy to do that!', and you're doing it, they don't call the police.

You just have to look like you're supposed to be grooming/deadheading those plants... look purposeful, never furtive, and nobody will even question you. Much. :-)

Yes, you are so right, Critter. People just assume I've been paid to do the things I do!... that would be nice!

I had intended to read all the previous Seed Snatchin' episodes before jumping in here but man, oh man that's a lot of reading! I've only made it as far as installment #3 and will have to wait for some long winter nights to catch up on rest. My time is too limited right now.....after all it's seed snatchin season!

So far this year I've only snatched from my own yard (petunias, dianthus and painted tongue), but I have surely been scouting. One night last week I spent my entire supper break just driving around the town in which I work looking at all the business planters. I am most disappointed that my own little burg planted theirs with nothing but 3 colors of petunias this year. Last year I scored coleus and gaillardia seed from them as well as some nice vinca vines. ;-)

Keep posting y'all, and I will keep reading, getting new ideas, and reporting in. LOL!
La

The past threads are certainly entertaining, but reading them (let alone all of them -- what a daunting thought!) is no requirement for jumping on the bus and joining this group of seed snatchin' fools! :-)

Can you start coral bells from seed? We were at the funeral home the other day and I grabbed some seed from their coral bells. I have gathered lots of seed from my house though.

Yes! I grow them from seed I've collected or purchased. I've propagated Purple Palace, Blessingham Hybrids, Crispy Curly, Heuchera sanguinea, H. richarsonii, H. americana and our local wild one, Heuchera glabra. All grew easily from seed.

Well today I gathered daylily pods from the college I work at - I think I have about 500 black shiny seeds (probably stella d'oro). I wonder how many will actually germinate?

I gathered some daylily seeds from some of my daylilies the other day. I plan to plant them and see what happens next spring. I have several kinds of plants but the people I got them from didn't know their names.

Yeah - whatever happens, if they germinate - free daylilies!

We are on the same time-table y'all as yesterday I brought in some daylily seeds myself. I've been trying to do a little research to see how viable they are, but have not really found much on-line.

I don't often make it to the "big city" but had a dr. apt. today and made the trip. Oh my all the beautiful panters!! Unfortunately I was too early in the season to score any goodies. Plus they must actually have grounds keepers as they were impecably dead-headed....the nerve! (Either that or some other seed snatcher beat me to the punch, lol). I did snip a couple of plumes from a really pretty ornamental grass, but that was the extent of my haul today.

Yes - I have this lovely campus to seed snatch from. I already have my eyes on some lovely yellow and orange marigolds and some red salvia :-)

I lucked out yesterday and found some saplings to rescue from the roadside.

Goodness, my daylilies are just starting to bloom. I doubt I'll see any mature seeds before winter hits. I've harvested some wild geranium (G. erianthum, some aquilegia, some Lychnis flos culculi nana, and a few others, so far. Most of the seed pods are still green around here.

Hello All!! Just started snatchin' seeds this year...horrifying, I know. Been gathering from my Nicotiana for a couple of months...and of course the Mornng Glories. Found this pretty while vacationing at the beach...made sure to bring a few seeds home with me!!

My DH was horrified when I deadheaded a Stokes Aster at WM today. Noone said anything even if they did see me. I even got a small bag to put the seed in from the RX

Oh you guys I went "Compost Diving" at my bro & SIL's yesterday. Had it not been for the fact that it was during a party and I had on reasonably good clothes I would have really made a haul. I had taken my camara with me and was snapping photos of some of her flowers, then asked could I come back in a few weeks to gather some seed and take a few cuttings (she saves nothing to my knowlege). She said I sure could, then proceded to tell me about all the plants she just thrown in the compost pile. I was immediately on alert and asked where WAS the compost pile? Well it's this huge "walk-in" affair surrounded by fencing that I had to squeeeeze to get myself into. There were so many good plants in there! We only have a few weeks before our first possible frost and she had just reached the point of being tired of caring for them. I snatched up 4 moss rose plants but showed some restraint with the rest (mostly petunias I think) as they had been tossed into a somewhat nastier area of the pile. I am debating whether or not I should don some old grungies and go back and dig around again.

BTW another gardener at the party (who witnessed the entire adventure) told me that moss roses would come back in spring. I have always kept them in pots and never planted them directly in the ground. Does anyone know if he's right? If I plop them in the ground in zone 5-6 (they keep changing their mind on which zone I live) will they come back next year?

La

La,
Good job!! My Moss Rose self seeds here.

LOL @ Me.....I have to show you my compost treasure.

Good haul! That is a new twist on Snatchin'... Compost Divin'! I love portulaca (moss rose). They don't do well here, so I grow Livingston Daisies instead. I'd plant them, and leave a couple in the ground to see what happens. As for the others, let them grow and wait for the seeds to mature.

Yeah, the seed capsules on moss roses are really neat...the top is on a sort of hinge and it opens, well, the best way to describe it is like a hinged cookie jar shaped like a little acorn. (?) Well, I'm not sure it's the *best* way to describe it, but it is accurate :)

It might sound strange, but the seeds from the various colors seem to come true. When fall starts and the tree leaves are coming down, I pull my plants by color and put them where I want them. So if I have a bright pink rose that looks great with bright pink of the moss roses, I pull all those bright pink moss rose plants and lay them on top of the ground under the rose. The seeds mature and drop right there. Later in October, when it's time to rake the leaves that have blown over the garden and start cutting things back, I pick up the dead moss rose plants at the same time.

Suzy

Howdy folks! I've been seed snatching for years but haven't participated in your
discussions on it. I donate to the Hardy Plant Society and then get my pick of
35 varieties as a donor to the seed exchange. Its a great way to get access to
a large variety of seeds.

Suzy - that's a great idea about moving the moss roses by color in the fall!
I never thought of that.

I used to put the seeds on the dining room table. I'd spread out newspaper and
then put them on paper plates, writing the name right on the plant. And then my
big fuzzy kitty decided to roll on that cool stuff and spread my seeds everywhere.
Now I put them in envelopes, writing the seed name on the front and leaving the
envelope open to aid in drying. And I put them somewhere where kitties aren't
allowed.

Tam

You know Weez, I was once corrected when I refered to a portulaca plant as a moss rose. Is there indeed any difference?

Suzy thanks so much for the color tip. I actually like the monochromatic look better than the mix.....I'm going to give that a try! I'll have to scout around to find a picture of the seedlings so I'll know not to weed them come spring I am so excited to know they'll re-seed on their own. There's barely room for me and the dog in here once I get all my plants started in spring. It's good to know I can save that space for something else. ;-)

Lala -- The seedlings look just like the plant -- you can't confuse them with anything else. At least not around here.

I forgot to say that when I clean them up the final time, I bang each clump against a garbage can lid to expel any seeds that are left and are almost ready to expel themselves. I problably get over 1000 seeds from that final slap. :))

Suzy

Lala_Jane, I've alway heard the Portulaca referred to as moss rose, but, I've lived in Alaska for about 33 years, so I don't know what changes have occurred in the nomenclature. Seed collecting is an acquired taste. Once you get hooked, you'll collect seeds everywhere you go. I think someone once mentioned eying a poppyseed roll for viable seeds. It's truly an acquire passion.

I'm in Zone 5. Last year I had moss rose in this plastic kettle. These reseeded from those plants.

DEMinPA

Very nice Dem! I'm tickled that I may have one less seed to run trhough the sieve, LOL

Oh, whist I've got you all here. I snatched the seed for this blanket flower from my neighbor last year. Does anybody know if it's an annual or perennial? I have so much to learn. *sigh*. Thank goodness for you all!

Perennial

DEMinPA

Thanks DEM. I was of the understanding that Gaillardia was perennial, but this spring I informed my neighbor that my plants were from her seed, and asked why she hadn't planted them instead of letting them die in the pot. She said that they were "the annual kind" which really confused me making me think that there were two types of blanket flower.

This message was edited Sep 3, 2007 3:17 PM

weezingreens

What is that in your 1st post? I have something like that and I thought it was gold dust alyssum, am I right or totally off base?

LOL... I thought it was grape hyacinths going to seed!

Anybody else want to hazard a guess? ;-)

You are correct, Critter. Gosh, you're good! I've been collecting seeds from several different kinds of plants in the last week or two, and now I've been sifting and sorting. It's still a bit early to harvest most of the seeds, but some are coming along nicely. I harvested the first of my Meconopsis seeds the other day... nice big pods, still a little green, but the tops were starting to open.