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Self-Seeding Annuals Question

17 years ago

I have just been reading the post on favorite self-seeders, and a lot of the flowers I love are among them. I like my flowers in groups, though, and have tended to save seeds and start new batches the following year. My questions are these - (1) If you allow your annuals to self-seed, do you usually get a group near the original site? (I realize there will probably be volunteers elsewhere) (2) If you have random sproutings, can you/do you dig them up and regroup them where you want them?

Thanks in advance,

Kim

Comments (4)

vera_eastern_wa
17 years ago
Hey there Drippy!!

The answer is Yes and Yes LOL! Most of the time my self-sown seedlings are right where the plants were growing. More often than not some of my reseeders call for serious thinning out; I either dig up and move "hunks" elsewhere if it's thick enough, seperate those that require their space, give away or weed out and toss.
Whatever is clever :D

Vera
drippy
Original Author
17 years ago
Thanks, Vera - I just wasn't sure whether you could dig them up & move annuals successfully - I suppose if you buy them at a nursery, or dig them out from your WS flats, you're doing just that. I like some randomness, but I like some groupings, too.
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now.. the trick is.. NOT WEEDING THEM OUT AS BABES IN SPRING.. lol ... been there .. done that ... what i recommend.. is that you plant a few in say.. a one foot circle.. then pick up a one foot stick from the lawn ... and simply stick the stick on the center of the spot.. if nothing else... in spring.. the sticks tells you.. you put something there .... and sooner or later the flower will tell you what ... the whole point of wanting self sowers.. is that they are winter hardy .. and they can be planted NOW.. i have shoe boxes full of decade old seed in the garage... lol.. that i never remembered to plant in spring .... this isnt a wait till spring thing ... ask if you dont know how to sow the seed... when they self disburse the seed... they do not bury it ... but to avoid vermin ... winged rats and the like.. a little dusting of soil will hide them from our ravenous friends ... but too deep.. and they wont sprout.. many of these type of seeds actually need light to germinate .... finally in spring.. when they are at the second leaf set stage.. with a hand trowel.. they can be moved around.. out of the one foot circle.. a rainy. damp.. ugly day is best .... to avoid significant shock .... and finally .... again??? .. plant half.. save half... in case of some late hard frost killing tender babes ... then you can sow the extra .... good luck ken
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Hello Greenthumb - All of the varieties of annuals you have listed have self - sowed for me, It doesn't really matter what variety - they all will self sow, The Balsam tends to produce single flowers after several seasons of self sowing, and snaps will become less showy than their parents. I have a hillside that is covered with blue batchelor's buttons that have resown themselves for more than 10 years. There is Portulaca - moss rose that grows and flowers here beautifully in the gravel between patio stones that seeded themselves there from the garden. Bells of Ireland is at its best when it self sows. You have to give these self sowing annuals real good to ideal conditions (well drained fertile soil, little competition with weeds) and a full day of sun for them to return from self sown seeds. Good luck!
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I have had cosmos self-seed (one of the tall pink and white mixes) and Portulaca (AKA moss rose), whatever the common double mix that my local greenhouse carries. Sorry not to be more helpful with varieties. Most of the others I haven't grown, so I don't know about, but snapdragon Black Prince and calendula never self-seeded for me. A few other annuals I have had self-seed: - Johnny jump-ups, a type of viola - Nicotiana (AKA flowering tobacco) I like for its lovely evening scent (sort of vanilla-y) and its long bloom from mid-July until a good frost, so that it is the most prolific bloomer in my garden during the late fall. I planted it once about 10 years ago . . . - Verbena bonariensis has light airy purple flowers beginning in August here. - Petunias (occasionally) - Alyssum All of these pull easily if they volunteer where not wanted and will return for many years in this zone. Cleome, on the other hand, was a bit of a pest and took several years to eliminate after I had let it go to seed one year.
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I know that some seeds need light to germinate altho I couldn't off-hand tell you which ones so I'm posting a link which gives some info. Not all on the list are annuals. I expect that if the seeds fall naturally on a thin mulch there may be enough light for germination anyhow. I don't use a lot of annuals but do love those self-seeders whether annual or perennial. They are worth a lot in plant value altho I really need to replan my garden because I tend to let them take over. Here is a link that might be useful: flower seeds that need light to germinate
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tinamcg
17 years ago
Every spring, I walk around my flower beds as if they were a garden center. I look for seedlings to move. I do this mostly with snapdragos, zebra mallow and Bells of Ireland, which I find coming up everywhere. I've done it with tomato plants, too.

I get such a kick out of cheating the garden center out of all those sales. A few months ago, my neighbor came home with one measly pot of zebra mallow, tagged as a perennial and loaded with leafminers. She had paid $10 for it. I was so disgusted, so I took her receipt back to the garden center and told them what they could do with that awful excuse for a plant. Then I gave my neighbor a half dozen mallow seedlings from my garden. We've ben laughing all summer about those six plants -- $60 worth, if you buy them at the nursery. She's going to have zebra mallow for the rest of her life!

Tina McG

Tina McG
drippy
Original Author
17 years ago
Three of my favorites, Tina McG - I'm going to start letting more plants go to seed (without collecting the seed).

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