Seed Collecting

Anytime around late summer and early autumn is a good moment to do a spot of seed collecting around the garden. By this stage of the year many flowers in the garden will have gone over and their seed heads will have become brown and dried – this means the seeds inside are ready to collect. If the seed heads are still green the seed will not be dry and will probably rot over the winter, so it is important to wait until the seed heads are really dry and crispy. Collecting the seeds is great fun; when you crack the brittle casings hundreds of tiny seeds will tumble out, each one ready to grow into a new plant next year. The shape, size and colour of the seeds will vary from plant to plant, but most are remarkably small and it is amazing something so tiny, once planted and watered, can produce shoots and roots and quickly grow into a whole new flowering plant producing more seed for you to collect.

Not only is collecting seeds a fantastic way to make sure you have plenty of gorgeous blooms in your own garden next year but you can give away or swap any spare seeds you collect.

Nigella (Love-in–the-mist), Aquilegia (Ladies Bonnets) and Papaver (Poppy) seeds are all easy to collect and grow well from seed. Herbs like dill and fennel produce seeds that can just be picked off the plant. If you tried the sunflower project in the spring your sunflower should have a mass of seeds forming at the centre of the flower, when they are ready why not collect some to plant next year and leave the rest for the birds to enjoy.

1. Start by making some seed packets. Use brown paper envelopes, write on the name of the plant, the date and decorate them with a picture of the flower. If you don’t know the name of the plant or can’t remember what the flower looks like ask a grown-up to help you and perhaps look it up in the plant directory.
2. Hold the seed head above the open envelope, crack its outer casing and shake out the seeds. Poppy seed heads are just like tiny pepper pots, the seeds just sprinkle out of the holes at the top, others like Aquilegia burst open when they are dry so the seeds can just be shaken out.
3. Pick out any big pieces of debris that fall into the envelope and then carefully seal it down so that none of the precious seed can escape.
4. Store the sealed envelopes in a cool, dark, dry place, an airtight tin or lunch box is ideal, until the spring when you can plant them.

Clare Matthews, Clare Matthews Garden Design Ltd.