Harvesting Zinnia Seeds

The bright red, yellow, pink & orange Zinnias blossomed all summer!  So many vibrant colors!  Each seed planted grew into a very bushy plant with so many bright blossoms & buds.  Combined with the Marigolds that were planted in front of them, our side garden has been enjoyed by our neighbors, too!  Especially our next door neighbors! 

Now that Autumn is here, it's time to save the Zinnia seeds from this year's crop!  What might seem like quite a chore, really is not at all.  When the colorful Zinnia blossoms have a dried out look, snip off the flowers from the stems of the plant. 

***I harvest the seeds before we get a good hard frost here in my area of Western Mass!  That frost will end my Zinnia crop.  Our weather will change & it will get colder. 
 

With a gentle breeze blowing!

A tissue box that has been cut down is the perfect container for the flowers, so they can continue the drying process.  Place those dried out looking flowers in the tissue box.  My container is sitting on the sunny window sill in our Family Room.  Those seeds that were harvested are the source for some of next year's colorful gardens! 

After the blossoms are dried, pull off the outer flower petals.  Discard the remaining parts.  Each dried petal is attached to a "tear shaped" seed.  After planting that seed next year, it will grow into a Zinnia plant.  There is next year's crop!  Sweet! 

"Tear Shaped" Zinnia Seeds attached to dried petals.
(File Photo)

I remove the dried petals from the seeds - as much as I can.  Those dried seeds will be stored in sealed labelled paper envelopes.  Next spring, after the rows in our gardens have been created for the seeds, I'll place the Zinnia seeds in the ground & cover with a light coating of soil.  Then, pat the soil gently.  Every day they will need to be watered.  Before you know it there will be sprouts!  Those little green plants will need to be thinned out.  When any plants are 5"- 6" tall, they can be transplanted to other parts of the yard.  The process will start again!     

Harvesting & saving Zinnia Seeds is a yearly tradition with me.  In any given year if I find that the flowers are much smaller than the previous crop, I take the clue.  The following year I'll purchase newly commercially packaged seeds for that year's colorful gorgeous Zinnias in our yard.

Do you harvest & save seeds for the next year's crop? 

I Enjoy it!