saving gomphrena seed

I have a couple of pots of the purple gomphrena that have done exceptionally well in our severe summer heat, so I'd like to save some seed. (There are quite a few flowers on them right now, but they don't look as large as the ones during the summer. I pruned the plants in August.) We've had a light freeze, but the plants are alive, although barely. Our first hard freeze could come as late as New Year's. I'm wondering if it would be safe to harvest the flowers I want to keep for seed now, or should I leave them on the plants until the plants are completely dead? And when I harvest them, do I just let them dry out naturally for a few weeks and then separate the seed to save for spring? Should I store them in the refrigerator, or will they be all right at room temperature?

You can harvest these seeds now.
They can still have color on them and will be viable.
Allow them to dry and do not worry about storing in the refrigerator.
They will be fine at room temperature for a season.
If you wish for longer storage time, you can freeze them.
They are a delightful willing bloomer inspite of full sun and drought.
A cheerful addition that is worth saving.

Wow, that was fast, and many thanks.

I don't know if you grew these from seed, and if so you may already know this... Gomphrenia seeds are a bit odd, as they are enclosed within the papery dried petals. When you take apart the flower head, you'll find some petals with hard little lumps at their bases... those are the seeds. (Don't try to remove them, just plant them with their little petal.)

Let me see if i've got a photo...

I've never done much with seed, and didn't know this about gomphrena, so I appreciate the info.

I was so pleased with how these pass-alongs did, I'm going to buy some Strawberry Fields also and see how they do. These were in containers with a couple of other plants, and they got so tall I had to severely prune them at least twice during the growing season.