Best plants to grow for interesting seed pods ???

Hello,

This year I grew several varieties of Asclepias, including one from Africa called the Balloon Plant (Asclepias physocarpa) . This plant (an annual here in Ohio) grows about 7 feet high and only two feet wide in a single season with lots of large round green tennis ball sized seed pods on long branches. I took some branches to my garden clubs and they flipped over the potential for flower arranging with this plant.

This has me wondering if there are any other annual or perennial plants that can be grown for their interesting seed pods. I remember my aunt grew Chinese Lanterns and I may try those. Any other suggestions?

Also, has anyone successfully dried balloon plant seed pods without having them collapse or burst?

Thanks.

I love your balloon plant seed pods...those are great. I've seen dried lotus seed pods at craft stores, but they're water plants...not sure how that will do for you. Yardqueen made an arrangement with canna seed pods that I thought were interesting looking. Will find the link for you. Here it is: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/fp.php?pid=3831450 The money plant is another option. You can see the seeds right through the pods. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annual_honesty I bet if you go down the aisle of a craft store that sells dried flowers and such, you will get plenty of ideas.

This message was edited Sep 17, 2007 7:16 PM

Gladpuppy:
Do you have a picture of that balloon plant posted somewhere? I think I know it under another name.
And hi to a fellow buckeye!

Karma:
Thanks for the link to the Canna pods - I've never grown them but might for those pods!

Thanks Karmaplace!

Cannas are a great idea!

I actually planted one (Stutgardt) for the first time this year but it hasn't bloomed yet. I had no idea they had such neat pods. We are only a few weeks from frosts here, so I am guessing my canna won't bloom this year, but I will dig it up and plant it again in the spring. Thanks for the link also!




Sookey66,

http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/61453/

Oops, thanks also Sookie66.

I meant to write a longer reply in my last note and accidently sent it. I don't have a photo of my plant and now it is rather hacked apart due to taking branches into garden club meetings to show it off. I also entered it in the Tallmadge Flower show and it won the Horticultural Excellence Rosette, mainly because nobody had ever seen it before .
I did find several pics on Dave's website, and I stuck the link at the bottom of my last note. Here it is again:

http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/61453/

Hope that works for you. BTW, money plant is also a great suggestion! I wonder if it has any rare relatives with odd pods. Also, if you want a source for the Balloon Plant, you can buy it in the spring at Baker's Acres nursery in Alexandria Ohio. This totally fantastic greenhouse deals in rare plants and is worth driving across the state to visit in the spring. Check their plant lists at:

http://www.bakersacresgreenhouse.com/

They don't mailorder, but you can see what they have from their lists to know if you want to visit.

Gladpuppy1

You're welcome gladpuppy1 and sookey. Again, balloon plant has very interesting pods...the flowers aren't bad either. However, I read that all parts are poisonous and I have a 1yr old who puts everything in his mouth! Oh well. Gladpuppy, what other pods or cut flowers do you have in your garden?

Thanks GP1 for the links.
I don't think I have ever seen that plant! Did you grow it from seed? I'll ask around at my MG group if anyone knows it. Pity it's poisonous - it would be great in our children's garden (currently in planning stages).

I do happen to have money plant and am scrounging seeds of love in a puff from our MG garden - are those seed pods usable when dried?

How do you use your money plant?

And I don't even know where Alexandria is; I'll mapblast it...
Karem, I've gotta remember to get those Canna seed pods at my moms.

Yes, that poisonous part definately sounds scarey until you think about all of the other common garden plants that have the same distinction. Balloon plants are in the milkweed family. Many members of this family have milky sap and are poisonous. So, if you have any Asclepias (butterfly weeds) in your garden, be aware that they are also toxic. That's why monarch butterflies love them - their larvae eat the leaves and become toxic to birds as a protection.

I grow a ton of calla lilies because they are one of the very few bulbs deer don't eat (I grow a ton of deer) and they are poisonous.

I once did a presentation for some garden clubs on common plants in the garden that are poisonous and there are endless numbers of them and I can talk for hours about them. Tomatos, potatoes and eggplants are in the nightshade family and their leaves are poisonous. Ditto for rhubarb leaves. Here is a good link about some poisons that may be lurking in your veggie and flower garden:

http://www.vims.edu/bio/faculty/perry_docs/2005Perry(ICQ)PoisonousGardenPlants.pdf

Note that foxglove, irises, poppies, heleniums, crocus, lily-of-the-valley, star-of-bethlehem, hyacinths, daffodils, snowdrops, larkspur, delphiniums and monkshood are poisonous. So are aconite, jack-in-the-pulpit, datura, brugmansia, elephant ears, nicotania, snow-on-the-mountain, yew, castor beans, bleeding hearts, wisteria and english ivy to name only a few more.

Here's another interesting list from the sometimes dubious Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_poisonous_plants

And, don't get me started on houseplants - Pointsettia, diffenbachia, cyclamen, crotons, crown of thorns, philodendrons, azaleas, jerusalem cherries, hydrangeas, amaryllis, birds-of-paradise, lantana, asparagus ferns, schefflera, chinese evergreens, rubber plants, spathiphyllum and sanseveria (snake plants) - again just the tip of a very large iceberg. One more link:

http://www.denverplants.com/foliage/html/Poisonous_Plants.htm

I guess the moral of the story is not to let pets or toddlers put anything in their mouths from the great green outdoors or indoors. But, they can be such fast little critters and the world is their salad bar. It's a wonder any of us survive to adulthood at all.

Darn, that first link was bad and the article is a really good one. Let me try it again:

http://www.vims.edu/bio/faculty/perry_docs/2005Perry(ICQ)PoisonousGardenPlants.pdf

G

Hmmph. For some reason, the link I copy isn't the link that shows up. The article can be found on the web as:

Common Garden Plants Poisonous to Camelids
by James E. Perry, PhD, PWS

It is basically for llama folk, but the info is general on the poisonous plants with some nice stuff on the veggies. I wonder if I sliced the link up, whether I can slip it in...

http:
//www.vims.
edu/bio/faculty/perry_docs/2005
Perry(ICQ)PoisonousGardenPlants.pdf

If that didn't work, I guess it just wasn't meant to be.

Oh, and I have used money plants in wreaths and mixed arrangements. You can also do a really pretty basket with fairy lights and money plant pods together. The only thing I don't like about them is you have to peel off the outer skins (which have tiny prickles and are somewhat irritating to handle) to show off the pearly white money inside. Oh, and they seed around like crazy if you don't pick the pods.

G

Sookey, I read that canna seeds need to be nicked and soaked before planting, which is what I did. I just planted them, and am waiting for it to germinate. I will jump for joy it they come up.

GP1, that's a great idea with the lights and money plant. I will be on the look out for money plants at the garden center. Do you have pictures of your arrangements and wreaths? Would love to see them. And thanks for the info on poisonous plants. I'm a first time mom and worry about pretty much everything! My son loves to play outdoor, and I definitely can't turn the backyard into a desert to protect him, although cacti are probably poisonous too...

Hi Karma,

Sadly, I have no photos of my moneyplant arrangements. It has been about a decade since I grew and arranged with it, which predated my digital camera. Now that I am digital I take lots more pics of my stuff, and never bother to print any of them out .

One good thing about most toxic plants is supposedly most of them taste terrible. The biggest problem for toddlers is the plants that have toxic berries or fruits that look like food to them. Butterfly weeds just look like weeds, and the money plant pods are four feet off the ground which helps that one.

I recently read an article in the health news that said studies have proven that most toddlers have a natural dislike of new foods and have to be taught by their mothers what to eat. The fussy eater thing comes from this - it's nature's way of keeping them from eating things they shouldn't. Pretty nifty, eh? Though it doesn't seem that way when your baby is throwing his lima beans on the floor...

G

Hi G,

Aren't digital cameras great? Out of the >500 pictures I have, I may have printed a dozen of them. What's great is you can upload them onto the pc and get instant gratification.

My toddler must be from a different planet. Nature has not been able to stop him from eating paper, lotion, soap, wet wipes, bugs, etc. But I guess it's my job also to teach him what NOT to eat...

OOps, I meant to say "Balloon" plant pods are four feet off the ground. Money plant is much shorter.

Actually, I think in the long run it's great to have kids that are willing to try new things. Just write down the strange things he tries now and be sure to bring it up to his prom date when he is 16 .

G

Just found another cool flower pod for arrangements. . .poppy pods.

Peony seed pods, left to dry on plant, produce very sturdy 4 section dark brown pods-about size of nickel. Siberian iris-left to go to pod and dry on plant-also have sturdy pods-pencil thickness and skinny oval.