Saving Marigold Seeds

Marigolds 
(File Photo)

The question is, "Can you harvest and save Marigold seeds to plant next year?" The answer is yes! This is another annual flower that is easy to grow and it begins with planting seeds. That is- if you do not purchase small plants to place in your garden. If you have these beautiful bright flowers growing in your garden or flower pots now, save some flowers, dry them and save the seeds. Plant the seeds next Spring! 

Like saving Zinnia seeds, saving Marigold seeds is an easy process. The colorful flowers are snipped from the stems and placed in a cut down tissue box to dry out. After the flowers dry out the seeds can be separated. A Marigold seed is slender and black. It is attached to the petal that is now brown. 

Dried slender black Marigold seeds
(File Photo)

Save those dried seeds in business sized white envelopes that are labeled/ sealed. The seeds will be ready to be planted next year! 

Happy Gardening!

~Saving Zinnia Seeds~

Colorful Zinnias
(File Photo)

If you have been enjoying the colorful beauty of Zinnias in your yard this summer you may want to save the seeds from these plants. Next Spring the saved seeds can be planted in your garden. It could be a repeat of the red, pink, yellow and white flowers that added so much color to your yard this year. 

The process is easy. Snip the colorful flowers from the stems in your garden and place the flowers in a container. The containers I use are cut down tissue boxes. I put the containers of cut Zinnias in our garage while the flowers dry out. The air circulates between the flowers easily while they are drying out.

Zinnias drying out.
(File Photo)

After the flowers dry out it is time to harvest the seeds. Pull the petals from the short stems and you will find tear shaped seeds. Sometimes, the seeds do not break away from the dried petal easily, so I leave the dried petal on the seed and plant "as is" the following Spring. I store the seeds in business sized envelopes that are labeled/ sealed.

Tear Shaped Zinnia Seeds
(File Photo)

When you save the seeds from your current crop of these beautiful flowers you will have so many seeds to plant next year.

Enjoy!
Happy Gardening!

 

~Saving Marigold Seeds~

Marigold Seeds
(File Photo)

The small Marigold plants that were placed in pots on our deck this past Spring grew and are still adding so much color to our yard. An added plus was that those little bunnies did not hop up the steps to investigate. Seeds from these beautiful flowers can be saved and sowed next Spring. Like with Zinnia seeds, it is an easy process. Snip off the colorful flowers and dry them out. The seeds are long, slender and black. So many seeds can be harvested/ saved and planted next Spring after the danger of a frost is past. Marigolds are very pretty flowers.

Orange Marigolds
(File Photo)

Usually a long planter filled with yellow and orange Marigolds is also found on our deck.

My "Orange Pineapple" Planter
(File Photo)

In the past few years I have planted both Vinca and Marigolds together in pots for added colors on our deck. They also grow well together. If you have been enjoying Marigold flowers these past few months, consider harvesting some of the seeds to plant next Spring.  

For my complete instructions on saving Marigold seeds, click here.

Next Spring plant the seeds in the ground or in planters. Beautiful flowers!

Happy Gardening!

   

~Saving Zinnia Seeds~

"Tear Shaped" Zinnia Seeds
(File Photo)

This is the time of year when I usually save many of the bright Zinnia blossoms that usually add so much color to our garden. After drying out the blossoms I usually harvest the seeds to save and plant the following Spring (after danger of frost is gone). These flowers attract the Monarch Butterflies. 

A Visitor to Our Garden
(File Photo)

I wrote usually, because this year there really are not many Zinnias in our front garden. However, there is one plant that is producing bright orange blossoms. It was a different growing season this year for my Zinnias. In the Spring the seeds were planted and they did sprout. However, there was a family of bunnies that wandered into our yard. Those tender, small green sprouts made a delicious meal for those hungry bunnies! Only one sprout was able to hide from the bunny family. That sprout hid among the white and pink Vinca that we planted after realizing that the Zinnias would no longer be a reality. Yes, I will save the seeds from the orange flowers and plant them next Spring. Maybe I will plant them in a pot on our deck where the bunnies cannot find them.

The Surviving Zinnia Plant
with a blossom and 2 buds 

For those of you who do have beautiful colorful Zinnias in your garden, save the seeds to plant next year. It is an easy process! Cut the colorful blossoms and let them dry out. After they dry out, harvest the seeds and place them in a labeled paper envelope. It is cool to save the seeds and plant them the following year. 

Click here for my complete Instructions for Saving Zinnia Seeds. 

I wrote the instructions above a few years ago, but I have been using this process to save Zinnia Seeds for so many years.

Happy Gardening!

     

~Saving Zinnia Seeds~

Time to save the Zinnia blossoms and dry them
for next year's bountiful crop!

It's time! For what you may ask. If you have a garden with beautiful colorful Zinnias it's time to save the blossoms, dry them out and then harvest the seeds for next year's crop. It is a very easy process! So great being self sufficient and saving the seeds rather than purchasing commercial Zinnia seed packages next Spring.

After snipping the colorful blossoms you want to save, place the blossoms in a box to dry out. I use a cut down tissue box.

Blossoms drying out

 

After the blossoms dry out, separate the seeds from the dried blossoms by pulling off the petals. The seeds are "tear" shaped and attached to the petals.

"Tear" shaped Zinnia seeds

   
Then, place the treasured seeds in a large labeled envelope and save to plant next Spring after the danger of frost is gone in your area. 

Our Zinnias attract Monarch and Swallowtail Butterflies and Hummingbirds in addition to adding so much color to our yard.

Happy Gardening!

Sowing Zinnia Seeds

Last weekend the tear shaped saved Zinnia seeds were planted in two of our gardens.  It was time to get them in the ground! About 6 days later 2 small sprouts popped up. Today, there are more green sprouts making appearances.  Planting the seeds saved from the last year's crop of brightly colored Zinnia flowers is a tradition here.  In a few weeks time the sprouts will get stronger, have more leaves and buds will appear. Then, so much color! 

Looking forward to seeing this year's crop of colorful flowers that attract the Monarch Butterflies and the Hummingbirds. 

Happy Gardening!

   

Gardening!

Getting started!

This past weekend it was wonderful to spend time outdoors- working with plants. On one day the annual plants had been purchased, so the next day it was time to get started.  Potting soil, garden gloves, pots and stones for the bottom of the pots for drainage were found. 

A brightly colored hanging Geranium is a traditional Mother's Day gift for me.  Then, who can resist pairing yellow and orange Marigolds together in one pot?  I sure cannot.  They become my Orange Pineapple Marigolds! Lavendar/Pink flowers of the Geraniums also add so much color to an area. "Mosquito" plants also found their spots in our yard. The Zinnia seeds saved from last year's crop were sown. Click here for Directions for saving Zinnia Seeds.

It's the colorful month of May and it was good to get started!  There is more to be done this week!

Happy Gardening!
Enjoy!

~Saving Zinnia Seeds!~

Beautiful Zinnias!

Do you have beautiful colorful Zinnias growing in your garden(s)?  Are you interested in enjoying the flowers again next summer?  You can next year without purchasing new seed packets or small plants from your garden center!  Save the seeds from this year's pretty flowers and plant the seeds in the Spring after any possibility of frost in your area is gone.  

Saving the seeds is not difficult!  It's at this time of year that I snip the colorful flowers from the plants growing outdoors and save them in cut down Kleenex boxes, so the flowers can dry out. 

Colorful Zinnia blossoms drying out!

After the flowers dry out, harvest the seeds by pulling them away from the stems of the plant.  The seeds are "tear" shaped.

Blue arrows point
to the dried out Zinnia seeds!

After harvesting the seeds place them in large labeled envelopes and seal.  You are on your way to enjoying beautiful colorful Zinnias again next year.

Enjoy!
Happy Gardening!

 

A Welcome Visitor!

Colorful Zinnias grown from last year's saved seeds!

Every year in September I snip some of the colorful Zinnia blossoms from the stems.  The blossoms are dried out and then the Zinnia seeds are harvested and saved for next year's crop.  

The dried Zinnia seeds

The following Spring, usually in late May, the seeds are planted.  Before we know it the little green sprouts have 3 to 4 sets of leaves.  They are on their way to add color to our gardens.

Today it was great to see an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly fly in for a visit!
 

That is a great perk!  The colorful Zinnias also attract Monarch Butterflies and we have seen Hummingbirds visit.  

 Do you have Zinnias blossoming in your gardens?  Do you save seeds to plant the following year?  It is easy to do.

Enjoy!
Happy gardening!

Planting Saved Zinnia Seeds

Zinnia seeds

It's time!  You may be thinking "time for what?"  Time to plant the Zinnia seeds that were saved from last year's crop.  That was accomplished today.  It was a perfect day to plant them with our warm weather today and it will continue.

We are dreaming about enjoying a colorful abundant crop- like we do every year.

Colorful Zinnias from a previous crop.

 

In a few days we will be looking for the small green seedlings to pop up.

Happy gardening!

 

Saving Marigold Seeds

Big Orange Marigolds

O.K., now that we have saved the Zinnia seeds it was time to also harvest the Marigold seeds!  In the Spring we purchased Marigold plants that would have BIG yellow and orange blossoms.  We had visions of beautiful brightly colored blossoms in our gardens.  Well, all did not work out exactly as we had wished for.  Our drought brought a reduction in outdoor watering in my town.  Still our flowers managed to do o.k.  The new mulch helped a lot! Unfortunately, the rabbits enjoyed dining on the yellow Marigolds! The yellow flowers and the green plants! The orange colored flowers- they did not bother with.  It sure was strange to see large plants with bright orange flowers next to very small green plants.  Transplanting 2 of the small plants into pots was a good solution to seeing yellow blossoms this summer!  They are doing very well.  Those plants were definitely survivors, so I decided to save some of their seeds.  

Once again, the process of saving Marigold seeds is easy:

The colorful flowers are snipped from the stems and placed in a cut down Kleenex box to dry out.  After they are dry, the dried seeds will be separated from the stems.  The Marigold seed is slender and black.  It is attached to the dried out brown petal.

Saved Marigold Seeds
(File Photo)

The dried seeds will be placed in business sized white envelopes that are labeled/ sealed.  I saved seeds from both types of plants- the plants with orange flowers and the plants with yellow flowers, so they were saved in separate containers. 

**Note:  In your garden as the flowers dry out on a green plant, you can also save these dried flowers. Just pull the dried petals off and save the seeds.  This skips the process of drying out the blossoms yourself!  

Happy Gardening!
Enjoy!              

Saving Zinnia Seeds

Our bountiful Zinnia harvest!
September 2022

It's apple season in New England! Pumpkins and Butternut Squash are now available, too!  That can only mean one thing.  It's time to save the Zinnia seeds from the plants that are blossoming in our garden. I save seeds from one year's crop to plant in the garden the next year.  It's the perfect time to harvest the seeds.  

The process is very easy:

Snip the colorful flowers (that are blossoming) from the green stems and place the cut flowers in a flat container to dry out.  I use cut down Kleenex boxes.  By sniping the fresh flowers I am able to choose what color Zinnias I am saving.  The boxes are placed on a shelf in our garage. The air circulates between the flowers and they dry out very well.  Some petals turn brown.

Colorful Zinnia flowers will be drying out.
(File Photo)

 
After they dry out, it's time to harvest the seeds from the dried out blossom.  Pull the petals from the short stems and you will find the cherished tear shaped seeds to plant in your garden the next year. I store the seeds in a business sized white labeled/ sealed envelope.  Usually, I need more than one envelope.  There are times when it is difficult to separate the seed from the dried petal, so I save "as is" and plant the seeds "as is" the following Spring.  It all works very well!

Tear shaped dried out Zinnia seeds
(File Photo)

After continually saving the seeds in September and replanting them, for about 5- 6 years, you will find the blossoms from the saved seeds getting smaller.  That is the clue to purchase commercialy packaged seeds from your garden center the following Spring.  After planting the new seeds and enjoying the beautiful colorful flowers, save the seeds again in September.

If you have Zinnias blossoming now, save the seeds for next year's beautiful garden!  It has been a tradition in my family- a tradition for decades.  Zinnias have always been a favorite flower!

Enjoy!
Happy Gardening!      

~Early June~

Gardening in early June

June brings more color to our yard and it's great to see! The Knockout Rose buds are beginning to open. First, there was one flower and now there are three. So many more buds are visible!

Another great surprise was the Zinnia seeds began to sprout.  That is always a great success, because the seeds planted were harvested from last year's bountiful colorful crop. Every day they will get a bit bigger.

June is a great month!
Enjoy! 

~Saving Zinnia Seeds~

Zinnias
2021

We've been enjoying our colorful, beautiful Zinnias in our gardens all summer.  Now, it's time to save the seeds from this year's flowers.  You guessed it!  I am already thinking about next year's bountiful crop.  For that reason this past week many colorful flowers were snipped from the plants and placed in cut down tissue boxes.  These snipped flowers are drying out in our garage.   

Every year during the month of September I continue this tradition.  The red, pink, orange and yellow snipped flowers will dry out and then I will be able to separate the "tear shaped" seeds from the dried out petals.  

Saved Zinnia Seeds
(File Photo)

 
Then, the Zinnia seeds will be stored in labeled sealed envelopes.  It's amazing how many seeds a gardener can harvest!  After 5- 6 years the colorful flowers become smaller, so I purchase new seed packs the following Spring.  The process continues for another 5- 6 years. 

It's great to plan ahead!
Enjoy!          

The Beauty of Summer!

A closer look brings a great surprise!

We are enjoying the colorful Zinnias in our yard.  They were planted from seeds saved from last year's beautiful flowers.  It's amazing how many seeds one can harvest from one flower!  In the spring the seeds were planted.  They took a bit longer to sprout and grow this year, due to the rainfall we had in this area.  However, once they started growing the flowers have added so much color to our yard.

This Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly flew in one afternoon.  Moving slowly and not too close I was able to snap a photo! A beautiful sight!

Enjoy!

The Beautiful Month of May!

Every week during the month of May there are always new "happenings" going on in our gardens.  A quick walk around our yard or a glance out of our windows bring beautiful sights!

Today, the large cluster of lavendar Chives can be seen from a distance.  A closer look at the Irises brought a great surprise!  The long slender buds are beginning to form.  Soon there will be many more.  The big pink Peonies are beautiful and there are more buds!

In another area the small green Zinnia sprouts have popped up. They were planted from seeds that were harvested from last year's abundant colorful crop.  It's a tradition to save the seeds, plant them the following year and enjoy the gorgeous colors!  Spring is a beautiful time of year!

Enjoy!
Happy Gardening!