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Harvesting Perennial Seed
Harvesting perennial seed is something I do a lot of in my own garden. Or rather I should say that when I had my nursery, I did a lot of it. Now, because I'm not producing thousands of seedling plants I only collect my own seed when I really want to maintain a plant population and it is one that doesn't live for very long (columbine) or that produces easier from seed than division (gaillarida). There really isn't much to this. I wander the garden looking for fat, plump seed pods that are swelling up. When I spot them, I try to remember where they are in the garden clump (some gardeners tie bits of wool to them but I'm not that organized). I watch these seed pods as they mature – they swell up and then stop growing. The next step in our harvesting perennial seed journey is th seed pods often start turning brownish – that's the key sign I'm looking for in the majority of cases,
Collecting daisy seed or other open flower seed is equally easy. Wait until the flower fades and continually watch this seed head. This is a race between you and the birds. They will wait until the seed is ripe to eat it. Their timing is almost perfect. As soon as the seed goes deep brown and separates easily from the flower, it is ripe. Or, as soon as the birds start eating it, it is ripe too. Good luck with that. Store in the same way. Some seeds are contained inside of berries. The easiest thing to do with these seeds is to place them in a jar of warm water, mash them up a bit, and let them sit for a few days. This will turn the berry into a soft mess of pulp. Place the pulp into a strainer and run under a tap. Separate the pulp from the darker, harder seeds. Keep rinsing until the pulp is gone and you're left with the seeds. Dry on a towel. Store as above when throughly dry. Some gardeners believe they should put these seeds in the freezer. This is wrong. Store your seeds either at room temperature or in the crisper of the frig. Do not dry-freeze perennial seed. I note that wet-freezing (sowing in a pot of soil and putting outside) is not a problem for the seed as it is genetically adapted to wet-freezing. Treat your seeds as per instructions in the seed sowing sections – sow immediately outdoors or sow in the frig/baggie system to begin the germination process. So harvesting your own perennial seed from your garden (to share with friends) or from a friend's garden is a time-honored way to increase your garden bounty. And an easy one. Click here for a free newsletter and to ask about harvesting perennial seed
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