Seed saving
Last weekend, I sat myself down and worked very hard to harvest a great deal of garden produce. But this harvest was not an edible one. It is seed-saving time, and I have got plenty of work ahead if I want to increase my stocks for next year.
Our enormous sunflowers went over eventually, and when they did, I cut off the dinner-plate heads, brushed off the stamens, and brought them inside to dry out. When winter comes, I will pull out twenty of the biggest seeds from the biggest head, and save them for sowing next year. And then, over the lean, cold months, I will hang out the seedheads for the hungry birds.
Earlier in the year, once our Allium ‘Purple sensation’ and Allium christophii blooms had faded and died, I cut the flowerheads out, and hung them in the shed to dry. Now, little black seeds rattle, and are ready for harvest. If sown next spring, they will flower the following year. There’s nothing quite like a bubbly cloud of allium heads in May and June, and if you are prepared to wait a little for this display, growing the plants from seed is a perfect way of increasing your stock tenfold if you wish. If you have kept the whole seedhead, you could also stick it back in the soil once the frosts come for a beautiful skeletal display. Birds such as tits are also great fans of allium seeds.
I have also saved nasturtium seeds, Digitalis purpurea and Digitalis x mertonensis, Scutelleria baccalensis, sweet pea, coriander and heritage tomato seeds. What seeds have you saved this year?
