This will be my second season of full time gardening and I’m so excited to test out the seeds I saved from last year’s plants. I took very good notes on the different varieties, the condition of the plant at the time the seeds were saved (for example, pre-frost or post-frost), the date collected, etc., and the time has come to start sowing again.
Saving Zinnia seeds is the best place to start for beginners because the seeds are really obvious. The hard part is letting them die on the plant and watch them shrivel up and crumble. As long as the flower has been pollinated, seeds form at the base of the petals and after the flower head is totally dried out, the bloom just falls apart in your hand and you have seeds. It’s not much more complicated than that.
The key is to let them dry out and keep them in a cool dry place over the winter. If all goes well, they should be viable and produce more flowers for you. I’ll be sowing a test tray this afternoon to get the ball rolling. I saved so many seeds from my Zinnias that I have plenty to experiment with and sow indoors under humidity domes. Then once the danger of frost has passed, if I have any leftover seeds I’ll scatter them to create a wild flower garden.
It’s incredibly satisfying to take a seed through the whole life cycle of planting. From starting indoors under grow lights, to planting outdoors to growing and flourishing, to then collecting seed from those flowers and doing it all over again. It's also possible to end up with new varieties because the bees don’t just stick with one type of flower or color when they’re pollinating - they go from flower to flower spreading the sweet nectar all through your garden. I’m hoping to someday learn the art of breeding flowers and create my own variety.
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