Hi all seed savers. I am sitting here for the third year in a row searching and searching through my Red Monarda didyma's dried seed heads for seeds! I have no problems with collecting any other Monarda seeds, examples: M. fistulosa I got a ton from, M. didyma 'Panorama Mix' I got a ton from, M. bradburiana I got a decent amount from. All of the ones I've had success with have a very similar looking seed, best described as looking similar to sesame seeds. They will easily fall from the spent flower heads when dry enough. Now back to the Red didyma ones - I purchased Red ones from two different sources - one being sold as Plain ole M. didyma or Oswego Tea while the others were being sold as 'Jacob Kline'. Now I have seen Jacob Kline listed as sterile and I have seen advice telling you to leave it's seed heads for birds to eat http://www.abnativeplants.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=plants.plantDetail&plant_id=63 .........so what's right!? I sure don't know but I did notice looking at the seed site picture, the seeds they show as Monarda don't look anything like sesame seeds, http://theseedsite.co.uk/db14a.html however they do look somewhat like the little black things I see stuck to the inside of each chamber of the flower head that I usually dismiss as not being the seed because it doesn't look like my other Monarda seeds. So now I am wondering if this IS in-fact their seed. It would explain why so many people have found that they can't get seeds from the red ones! We are all expecting the sesame looking ones. Okay so just in case I've decided to put anything that has fallen from the spent seed heads into the big bowl they were drying in, in a little baggy with moist mix in the fridge to be taken out after at least 12 weeks of cold treatment. Then I plan to see if anything germinates. So I will let anyone that wants to know whether or not I get anything. I am still going through the seed heads and trying to get all those tiny little black things sitting at the bases and I plan on trying those the same way but separately to see if they are in fact the seeds. It just bugs me that I am not able to share these seeds because I know lots of people are interested in them. If I do in fact have a straight species of the plant then I should be able to get seeds from them and heaven knows they've been pollinated by the hummers who I see at them constantly while they are blooming!! If anyone has definite knowledge about this or has successfully saved seed and germinated it from the Red Wild ones or it's cultivars especially 'Jacob Kline', Please Please speak up! It would cure my curiousity on this! : ) I am ready to buy seeds that claim they are red from every source I can find just to experiment! It is really bugging me. LOL
