SerpApi.Org
Collecting seeds is a rewarding, sustainable way to complete the growing cycle and get more of your favorite flowers. July offers a perfect opportunity to collect from plants that flower in spring and early summer. This guide to flower seeds to collect in July highlights six plants that should be ready for gardeners to collect from this month.
There are perennials, biennials, and annuals you can collect seeds from in summer to grow lots of future flowers for free. Many popular flowers are at the stage for collecting seeds in July, such as coreopsis, gaillardia, foxglove, honesty, blanket flower, and lupines.
It pays to keep a close eye on the flowers to harvest the seeds at the right time, and have some paper bags ready to collect them in (you can get 100 seed packets at Walmart). Be patient while the seeds dry sufficiently, don’t collect them from unhealthy or diseased plants, and don’t store them if they're damp. Avoid those seed harvesting mistakes, and you’ll have a healthy seed bank to sow from next year.
1. Lupine
Lupines are classic cottage garden plants, adored for their tall, striking flower spikes that appear from late spring.
To harvest lupine seeds, leave the old flowerheads on the plant and wait for them to go brown and dry. Once the seeds rattle inside the pods when you gently shake them, they are ready to collect.
It is a small window for collecting the seeds, so be vigilant. Wait too long, and the plant might naturally spread them. It is not the end of the world, as you’ll still potentially get new flowers, but maybe not where you wanted them.
Snip the seed heads from the plant with sharp pruning tools, such as these micro-tip shears at Walmart, and place them into a paper bag. The dried pods should easily split to collect the seeds and discard the chaff.
You can start growing lupines using these seeds in the spring.
2. Foxglove
Foxgloves are known as self-seeding flowers. Many gardeners will rigorously deadhead plants to stop them from producing seed and spreading. However, after foxgloves finish flowering, you can save a few stems to collect seeds from.
Saving the seed allows you a bit more control over where foxgloves may grow around the garden in future years. There is an element of risk, though, as foxglove varieties can cross-pollinate, so don’t pin all your hopes on an exact clone of your favorite flowers.
You need to let the flower spikes turn dry and brown. Then, when the seed capsules are crispy, good timing is key. Foxgloves split the pods and spread the seed when they’re ready, so you can attach a paper bag around spikes to collect the tiny seeds when they are dispersed to be sure you don’t miss out on them.
Foxglove seeds are tiny and need to be stored in paper envelopes or glass containers (like these glass jars with airtight lids on Amazon) to keep them in the best condition for sowing again.
3. Blanket Flower
Blanket flowers (Gaillardia) bring bright pops of color into flower beds from early summer through to the arrival of the frosts. They are low-maintenance annual plants and hugely popular with bees and butterflies.
If you want to plant a drought-tolerant pollinator garden, for example, blanket flowers are a perfect choice.
Once the flowers go over and the petals drop, the plant develops distinctive ball-shaped seed heads. Once these have dried and turned a light brown or whitish shade, the seeds are ready to collect. Snip off the seed heads and pop them into a paper bag.
To release the seeds, rub the heads between your fingers. Separate the seeds from the chaff and store them in a paper envelope or sealed container.
4. Nigella
Nigella (Love-in-a-Mist) is an easy-to-grow hardy annual flower that is perfect for filling gaps in flower beds.
They are another flower that readily self-seeds around the garden, but cutting back or collecting seeds gives you back control over growing nigella. If you want to grow it in a certain area, or in containers, it is really easy to collect seed to sow in fall or spring.
The seeds of nigella develop in inflated, balloon-like pods. These will turn dry and brown, and the seeds inside will rattle when they are ready to be collected.
I would opt to snip the stalks a few inches below the seed pods with pruning shears (I like these Japanese Okatsune pruning shears at Amazon made of high-grade blade steel) and put the pods into a paper bag. If you shake the bag, the seeds will pour out of the top of the pods.
Pass the seeds through a fine sieve to separate them from any other material and store them in a paper envelope or airtight glass container.
5. Lunaria
Lunaria, or honesty, is a biennial plant with white or purple flowers that reaches heights of two or three feet.
After the pretty flowers fade, it becomes one of the best plants for seedheads thanks to its oval, translucent, papery seed pods. You can cut these for dried flower arrangements or leave them to collect seeds.
Mature lunaria seed pods turn brown and crispy. They’ll often readily self-seed if left to their own devices, but you can cut the stems and hang them upside down for a few weeks in a warm, dry place. The seeds can then easily be removed from the pods by hand by rubbing them.
I opt to store my collected seeds in paper envelopes in a sealable metal container. I use an old metal breadbin for my seeds (a very rustic solution that works), but you can get a lockable seed storage organizer at Amazon that also comes with 50 seed envelopes.
6. Coreopsis
Coreopsis, or tickweed, is a native American wildflower with cheery, bright, daisy-like blooms. It is a great plant for pollinators, and your plants will be a haven for bees and butterflies during the flowering season.
If you grow coreopsis and want to collect seeds, you can do so throughout the season. They are long-flowering perennials that will have flowers in bloom and others producing seed at the same time.
After blooming, the petals fall, and the green seed heads at the center will turn brown and dry over time. Collect them while the head is crunchy and tight, before they naturally open and scatter the seed around the yard.
Cut off the entire head and place it into a paper bag. You can then crunch the heads by hand to release the seeds. To stay organised, this seed storage box on Amazon has 140 seed jars, labels, and a funnel to safely and properly store your collected seeds.
What to Shop
A pair of lightweight, durable, and comfortable gardening gloves. They are stylish, water-resistant, and have a non-slip grip for a range of gardening tasks.
A pair of lightweight and precise pruning shears with SK5 Japanese carbon steel blades that are perfect for carefully snipping seed heads from plants.
A set of 156 seed envelopes made of environmentally friendly brown kraft paper. Each one has sections for type, variety, date collected, and any further notes.
Have you ever wondered how long you can store seeds for? Admittedly, it varies from plant to plant. However, a good rule of thumb is that most flower and vegetable seeds are viable for up to five years when stored properly. The germination rates will decrease year on year, but you can test the viability of any seeds by putting them on a damp paper towel.
If you love inspiring garden ideas, outdoor advice, and the latest news, why not sign up for our newsletter and get the latest features delivered straight to your inbox?
Like this article? For more stories like this, follow us on MSN by clicking the +Follow button at the top of this page.
