Harvesting Seeds from Spring and Summer Flowering Plants

As the summer turns into fall and the flowers are done and have gone to seed, we start to prepare for the harvesting of seeds for next year. October is harvest month in our zone 9 of central California. During October, we see our favorite silver sage, white sage, and all our other favorite varieties of flowers, and herbs start to dry up, and set perfect little seeds. This is the time to harvest and save those seeds, so you don’t have to buy them next year. With natural hybridization you can end up with unique new varieties and some of the same.

Start by cutting the flowering stems off of the plant. Make sure you wait till the seed stalk has started to dry and gone to seed. This means the flowering stem will be very dry and brown. If you pick the seeds to early while the plant is still green, the seeds will not have fully developed.

We gently cut the seed stems off and lay them out on a large cookie sheet or if the seed heads are smaller, a paper plate works great too. We gently strip the seed capsules off the main stem and then start to remove the seed. Some fall out of the calyxes very easy, while others need to be pulled apart or rolled between your fingers. When finished, remove all the duff and stems and separate the seeds. Depending on the seed size you can use a fine mesh strainer sometimes.

Store and label your seeds in a glassine envelope or paper seed envelope, and store in a dry area in your home. We avoid putting seeds in little zip locks until spring to ensure they dried completely, otherwise some seeds if not completely cured will mold.

Saving your own seed saves you alot of money and allows you to grow some curious new plants that naturally occur with bee pollination!! It is also fun to be able to share your seeds with fellow gardeners.

Stay Curious, and enjoy your garden, it changes everyday!

The Curious Gardens