Oh, I totally forgot about that thread! I think it's on Parking Lot.
Thanks for updating us, Maragan... glad to know all is well with Suzy & co!
Now, what about Dryad? and has anybody else gone missing over the summer?
Cottage Garden Seed Swap & Chat #15
found it!! http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/828618/
Suzy's is here http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/p.php?pid=4783070
yes, it is in the Parking Lot -- one place i never really venture.
Well that some good news to come home too. Ya Quen Piggy is alive and well.
Now I could be wrong but if I not mistaken Dryad has been posting on and off in th eparkign lot on our Carol/Alaska Ava journey. If I remmebr right she been busy doing folks landscaping and think she was finally getting a chance to work on hers. Don't hold me to it, but think it was her I remmebr writing.
I would never have thought to look there if someone had not mentioned it.
Maggie
Y'all, thanks for reassuring the rest of us that all is well with Queen Piggy. Why not add your contacts to the others on that thread, too?
I apologize for being so MIA here - have just been so bogged down - feel like a hamster on a treadmill some days.
Will try and get a picture tomorrow - our autumn clematis is waaaay up in our saucer magnolia, plus neighbors are growing it too - the whole world has such a delicate pervasive perfume of spicey vanilla. I know it gets bad press for being too rambunctious, but would we cottage gardeners be worth our cottage salt if we didn't play with some rambanctious plants? I'll try to save seeds in case anyone wants some later on.
Dryad's been missing from the Eads thread for a while - hope she's just busy with her business - this must be a busy time for her, too - not to mention that September is kind of a last-ditch time to plant perennials so their roots can dig in before frost.
I still have plants from 2007 wintersowing to move into more permanent spots - didn't know then what a tussle with deer would be in store for me by now, though. Crossing my fingers about these bellflowers. This past winter was not a good seed-sowing time for me, but hope to make up for it this coming winter.
Hamster in a treadmill, now that's exactly how I'm feeling too!
New job, webwinkel selling like crazy and all kinds of little fires that have to be put out!
Autumn has started already which means that I spend most of my time harvesting seeds now.
This weekend I'll be leaving for holliday. I'll be back in the beginning of october.
See you all by then!
Hi Piggies,
Check out the MIA thread in the PL. The suggestion was to put the info on your member page which I think is a great idea. That way you can go to the person you're looking for rather than trying to find a thread. Mine is updated.
maggie
I put my info there eons ago:)
Fairy,
I don't see your buddy info on your home page. Or were you talking about the thread?
I think Terry's suggestion to put the info on our member page is more intuitive and will keep people from not being able to find the info if they don't know about the thread in PL. i'm putting a suggestion to that effect on the DG page.
Maggie
Maggie -- yanno, i was poking around in the member page yesterday, after reading that thread in the Parking Lot. I could not see a place to 'click' to show the email addy, or a place to add a phone number.
Terese
Sorry Maggie-must've read too fast-mine is on the thread-where should we put it on our homepage??
I put my buddy's name in the paragraph space where we get to talk about ourselves. But the goal is not to put your personal info there, put your buddy's name so you don't have to post that stuff. Your Buddy can track you down if you go MIA. I also made this suggestion on thehttp://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/899940/ forum.
Maggie
have a good vacation Tuink!
hi bluespiral :)
Maggie, I couldn't get that DG link to work?
Good PI work tracking down Suzy! Glad to hear she is fine. I like the idea of a buddy contact in case we go MIA. I'm going to do that; I'll put Rubyw as my contact buddy since her niece lives around the corner from me.
I went out on the porch this morning and had to write down the potted plants that are left so I can decide what to do with them later this season before frost comes. I really love the color of the leaves (a grey-blue) of the Cinderella Stock. I hope it is a perennial, I'll have to check.
We have a few yellow lisianthus growing for the first time ever from seed. I usually never have luck with them because the seeds are so tiny, even though pelleted. The color is a very, very, pale soft yellow; the bloom closes up at night and reopens the next day, so pretty. I may have to buy more seeds for next year :)
Bluespiral! It's good to see you posting here. :-)
I've been trying to catch up with so much around here after a busy summer with not enough garden time... I told myself I wasn't going to make such an all out effort with seed collecting because of all the other things that needed attention... but I can't help myself... I come in with a few seeds of this or that tucked into my pocket, and every once in a while I end up taking a baggie out there... I suspect it'll add up by the end of the month, LOL.
But I'd better find somewhere other than the dining room table to dry seeds... I have company coming in a week and a half and a DG gathering in 2 weeks... I need that space clear! :-)
I recently had to relocate drying seed trays from our dining room table for the same reason! :) they ended up on the empty plant light rack
Critter and wind, its so good to be among birds of a feather, LOL. I had to clear the seeds off the dining room table for company a couple of weekends ago too. Its also nice to have fellow DGrs to blame it all on when the household complains about plant related inconveniences. There's always someone to blame each new obsession on, and critter, you got a double whammy with the seeds and planting over 1000 crocus getting blamed on you, LOL!
Lol - gemini - it helps folks to be adaptive if you can manage to store stuff so it doesn't invite the stray foot in it!
Oh, finding space in which to dry seeds is a subject dear to my heart, too, especially since our house is tiny and ruled by 2 very well worshipped puttycats.
You know what gives me extra space safe from the kitties in our tiny house? I put a cookie tray (or 2-griddle thingy) across the dishes already in the cabinet. Leveling it can be tricky - let alone getting in and outa the cabinet - but if you're desperate, it's a big help. One winter, before I did this and was drying seeds on open shelving, I'd come down on some mornings to find seeds moved around in different trays, or curiously lined up in little rows...a mouse is under strong suspicion for that, hence cupboard.
A lot of my seeds are in small amounts, so I make little trays about 3" square with shallow sides out of recycled newspaper and masking tape (nice for smallest seed). Cat food cans work better for the accident-prone like me (fine for larger seed). Saucers and small bowls get commandeered, too. For larger amounts of seeds, a sandwich bag cut in half for more air flow works fine. ALWAYS BE SURE TO LABEL EACH THINGY YOU DRY SEED IN AS SOON AS YOU PUT THE SEED IN IT.
I've been able to block the cats' routes to the top of the refrigerator - great place to dry seeds, and since I put those 3" square paper trays in those approximately 10" x 20" open-mesh-bottomed trays, I can stack a bunch of those on top of each other - crossways - and still get ventilation to all the seeds.
And then - for large amounts or seeds I can't get to soon - paper bags. Things dry out in them fine, and sometimes I have 6 - 12 lunch bags - each with its own uncleaned stalks and stems of seeds - inside of a grocery bag - saves space when you're more desperate, but in a small house, easy to put your foot in. Often, after a few weeks, the seed will have fallen out of its pods and stems naturally and is easy to just shake in a sieve over a bowl - I use 2 kinds of sieves - one with bigger holes and one with smaller. You can get the smaller ones at the Dollar Store.
Critter, I was going to simplify things, too, this year - especially since carting off critters and building deer barriers/gates is taking up all our gardening time...but...evidently not seed collecting - can't help myself either.
Bon Voyage, Tuink!
Wind, when you survey your seedy riches, don't you feel like you're going into autumn well-stocked?
Some seeds, though, must stay refrigerated, like Christmas roses (Helleborus sp.) and Dicentra...winter aconite needs to stay cool and moist...spring beauty needs to be planted immediately.
Would love to hear what everyone else is doing about saving seeds...
me too, I never did get around to freezing the poppy seeds
Wind, even if your calendula is pretty small they are cooler weather plants and may just grow like crazy until this fall, mine look sickly right now too, they don’t like this heat and humidity but I‘m sure they will perk up when it starts getting a little cooler out and they aren’t perennials but they will reseed if you don’t collect too many seeds off of them :)
I use pallets when I run out of shelve space outside and you can find them behind the stores or beg from construction sites.
I’m taking all of my Queen Anne's Lace seeds and scattering in the host garden this year, I never did get any transplanted there from the field so I’m hoping they come up in the host garden for next year, my host garden is so full I’m going to have to make it bigger for next year again LOL I still have more milkweeds that I want to start for next year that are perennial.
Wind, sorry you didn’t get any white lace flowers but they still may come up for next year, I ripped mine out this year without saving any more seeds and have a couple that reseeded if they have time to flower before winter I’ll save some more.
My tithonia and castor beans are about to bite the dust! I water and it just doesn’t seem to do any good with them for some reason, next year I’ll use a soaker hose and see if that does any good, we got about an half inch of rain last night and early this morning, I’m just hoping it helps they are really on their last leg lol I don’t want to see them go yet!
Meredith, I kept wondering the same thing about my purple majesty seeds all fall last year and the year before that but I think you could take them off any time now, they don’t change color they stay reddish and I haven’t had any problems germinating mine so they are good to go :) They are never easy to get off like most seeds when they are ready to be picked, they make you work for them lol
Which aster is that, it’s so pretty! Is it the purple dome? I planted that one and the New England, both are getting ready to show me their blooms :) I’ve gotten purple dome in the ground but not the NE yet, maybe this weekend it’s going to be nice this weekend ‘they said’ so I’m going to try and get more in the ground. I’ve made a huge dent but still have a lot to get into the ground lol
Gemini, I’ve tried to grow that Lion's Tail three years in a row now and no luck what is your secret??? LOL That and standing cypress, no luck with either :(
Well that’s about all the time I have right now to get caught up on here, you chatty people lol My internet has been down for a week so I have a lot of catching up to do, I about went crazy not being able to get on here LOL
That did give me more time to collect seeds and I have them everywhere in the house and if the cats get in here it will all be gone LOL That is my worst fear for right now LOL They tend to come in when dad or I open the front door, he does better at keeping them out than I do for some reason lol They don’t pay any attention to me they just come on in anyway but if they come in when dad opens the door I’m usually outside and can’t supervise them that’s the scary part!
Hello everybody. I have really enjoyed "listening in" on all of your "seed talk". This is my first year at collecting seeds, so I am learning a lot. Didn't know some seed needed to be refridgerated and didn't know about letting the seeds dry out. Do you allow all seeds to dry for a certain period of time, even ones that seem to be dried on the plant? I have just been putting my seeds in plastic zip lock bags, but now am rethinking this. The seeds that I have collected so far are: as as-of-yet-unidentified salvia, obedient plant, purple fountain grass, rudbekia, and coneflower. Do any of those need to be kept cool? Also, is there a good resource I could refer to so I wouldn't have to keep buggin y'all with all of my "newbie" questions? (Although answers to these questions listed would be much appreciated!). You can also tell that I'm new to blogging and haven' learned all of the abbreviations, yet! Thanks for the suggestion about the two kinds of sieves. I have been crushing the outsides and having a heck of a time separating the seeds from the chaf!
Tonya
Hi Tonya, welcome aboard! This is a friendly, helpful gang and I don't think you'll have any problems getting any questions you have answered here. There is also a forum here at Dave's devoted exclusively to seed saving http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/f/seedsaving/all/
and there is an outstanding place called The Seed Site that has a wealth of information on just about anything to do with seeds. http://theseedsite.co.uk/
I am also among the ranks of the Dining Room Table Savers. This is a good time to be thankful that I live alone! I have been crazy-busy the past few weeks, but hopefully next week I'll have time to get our there and really rattle the bushes. So to speak. LOL.
One thing that works good for saving seed is to use old tackle boxes or from walmart craft department them compartment boxes. Lots of little compartments and ya cna just put seed in there and label and if ya got kitties to worry about ya cna close the lid.
I have seed on kitchen table, kitchen counters, dining room table and anyplace else where I cna find a spot til I knwo they dry and wont mold then it into plastic baggies and the fridge.
>>Dining Room Table Savers
actually, DH just left for a long weekend and one thing he asked of me....
clean off the DR table. LOL.
I do have an area on my kitchen counter where i keep lil 'buckets' of seeds... i use the 1# deli [salad] containers when i collect seeds ... i can just stack them -- I dont use the lids, so they can breathe.
wellp -- off to plant the lilies i just got in the mail.
Thanks Lala! It's funny that you mention the seed saving forum, cuz I found that one shortly after my post above. It's quite lengthy, so haven't devoured all of it yet. The other link you mentioned looks incredible, too. Can't wait to have some time to peruse that. I'm sure I will soon be well on my way to saving many seeds that I can hopefully swap with you guys and other DGers! In the meantime, I'll keep reading this thread and learning from y'all, too.
My dining room table is an antique. DH might get a little nervous if I start putting seeds all over it, but am fortunate to have a big kitchen with lots of counter space. May have to fight him over space in the fridge, though!
Blessed gardening to you all!
Tonya
Well I've been trying to collect seed from my geraniums that I got from the stokes seed swap with no luck, I wait until they turn brown but sometimes they fall off before then guess those aren't pollinated maybe? I'm really not wanting to buy more of these seeds lol I hate it when you pay out the wa zoo for ten seeds or 6 even!
I'm just thankful that I have my bookshelves or I wouldn't have much space to put the seeds lol Why can't we clean them as fast as we collect them, I ask you! LOL If I kept mine on the kitchen table dad would have a fit, he laughs now at where I have all of those little containers sitting, wonders every day what I'm going to do with them, every year I have to tell him and sometimes every nite that I'm saving them to trade with, gosh I would have a boring yard if I hadn't found DG's and all of these wonderful people on here that are just as plant crazy as I am LOL
This year I did invest in some coin envelopes and I have velveta cheese boxes that I label the packs put the cleaned seeds in then put them in the cheese boxes and it has helped me to keep them organized so much better for this year for the ones that are cleaned anyway, I don't think I will ever be organized when I'm collecting LOL I just wish I could put them in the fridge that way but one cheese box with seeds just barely fits into a gal. baggie so when I fill one envelope up it goes in a baggie with some of those packets to keep the seeds from soaking up moisture.
Welcome nbgard, we all have a time seperating the seeds from the chaf, we need more seeds that are a lot easier to clean and collect don't we? lol
I have a little carrier like you put cleaning supplies in and carry little empty cat food containers and plastic shot glasses, a pencil, scissors and labels, it's perfect to carry around the yard I got it at the dollar tree for a dollar, the tackle box I have has space under the compartments and I would be afraid I would lose my seeds to another bunch of seeds lol
We are still having nice drissels of rain here that is very much needed this is the kind of rain the plants just love, thank goodness, I went out to plant around 2 and decided it was a little too wet so just cleaned up my daylilies a bit out front and pulled weeds, until the kittens came anyway, they like to grab my hand when I'm pulling the dead leaves off and they have all claws out when they do it LOL
For those of you that have kitties in the house I don't know how you do it, just got to love those little critters but I tell you they are every where and on everything lol I kind of miss that excitement in the house but not with my seeds LOL
Tuink, have a great vacation!!!
Lea --
>>velveta cheese boxes
aren't those the best darned boxes?? I buy the cheese to get the box!!
though i do like the cheese [awesome grilled cheese sandwiches]
got a ton done in the yard today, and i only began a few hrs ago.
harvested Mex. Hat seeds and some morning glories [split personality, i think]
with all the rain we had yesterday ... about 20 hrs worth, thanks to Gustav, the soil is perfect for pulling weeds.
Got the bulbs plants [surprise lilies, which came in the mail as a surprise]
and i cleaned up my north flower bed of weeds and trimmed back all my ferns. [now i can see my hostas again.]
my neighbor and i were out surveying the flower beds looking for seeds to collect ... i think i've helped create a monster, but her DH will be happy that she stopped spending so much $$ on plants.
I may have a few new pics from this morning .... lemme check the camera.
Terese
There sure is a lot of information on seed saving! I was thinking about writing an article (I did one already on saving basil seed), but I'm having a hard time narrowing it down to a few simple basic principles, with some common examples... maybe I need to think in terms of "categories" of seeds, to give people an idea of where to look for seeds on plants and how to collect them:
Seeds from flower centers: sunflowers, zinnias, coneflowers, heliopsis
Tiny seeds in pods: columbine, rose campion
Big seeds in pods: runner beans, morning glories
Seeds with fluff: dandelion (not that you'd sow it on purpose, but everybody knows it), milkweed
Am I missing any obvious "category" do you think? What commonly grown plants can you think of that are the easiest for novices to collect seeds from? I might try to narrow down my examples to those that can be winter sown, just to make it even more beginner-friendly.
critter -- that would be a great article, and help many of us that are new to seed harvesting.
>>What commonly grown plants can you think of that are the easiest for novices to collect seeds from?
that would have to be Marigolds, though there are many that are pretty easy, once you figure out where the seeds are.
Yes, thanks! I'll have to look around the neighborhood for some... I think they sort of fall under "seeds with fluff" because the seed part is at the end of a sort of fluffy bit, even if it's more straw-like than poofy. That's exactly the sort of suggestion I need... :-)
The challenge to me here is to keep it short and simple rather than to try to include all sorts of information that, while useful, would make the whole thing seem too intimidating. I want to encourage people to just take a closer look at "dead" flowers and find the treasures they hold!
Here is a nice shot that includes my 2 [small] Butterfly Bushes.
No butterflies today though *sigh*
I did a bunch of weeding yesterday in this area ... the tall weeds just about covered most of these plants.
Oh and sorry if that last pic, the image quality is a bit low ... with the size of the image, i wanted to keep the file size small for those on slow internet.
here is my new Black Knight ... bought it at a plant sale in May, and it's doing very well right now.
I just love purple!!
Critter.. Petunias. They a good and easy one to collect for folks. Snapdragons. Are another one I cna think of off hand.
Petunias and Snapdragons are good suggestions, because a lot of folks have those in their borders and containers. I've already got photos for petunias... I think snaps are similar (little seeds in small bulge/pods where the flowers used to be).
I thought the circles helped to show where to look... ?
Oh my! My internet connection was down for a couple days and I just got it back on. Thank goodness!! I can't believe how behind I got! I am sooo relieved Suzy is okay! ^_^
I read every single post and I can't remember any of the 50 things I was going to say!!
Thank you for helping with the purple majesty Lea!! At least I remembered one more thing ; )
Oh ya (light bulb goes on over my head) and if you were asking about the Aster I posted - I have it as a China Aster. Which are annuals so hopefully I can save some seeds from them. Come to think of it most of them have opened and I got an updated picture this morning. One of the plants is double. It's pretty but I think I actually like the singles better, I like how the ends of the petals sort a look twisted. It reminds me of gothic fairy art. : )
I'll post my picture as soon as I get it off my camera and go back to see if I can spark my memory on what else I was going to say. Good night everyone.
I have a question, was looking thru some books and found some Phlox called SHERBET COCKTAIL, are they from seeds you think???
Gooled them to see what the plant looked like and nope they not from seed, they a PPAF so they are from vegatative cuttings. Sure has a different look. When I first started readign that it the first phlox to have a yellow break through in color figured it was not from seed.
I have seen the sherbert in person and not nearly as pretty as in a catalog-thought I wanted it til I saw it in person....
Delphiniums, gaillardia and nicotiana all have super easy seeds to collect too...
I've never collected seeds from Delphinium... is that like verbascum or verbena, with lots of little seed "capsules" on a stalk?
They are more like Columbine.....almost the exact same shape and everything...same harvesting and all-just a smidge bigger:)
Thanks, Fairy, that explains it perfectly!