phlox reseed in my yard.. the old fashioned ones ...

i will bet a buck.. you tried to move the one in the ditch.. while in bloom in the high heat of summer .... when you saw its bloom

perhaps if you were to have waited until the cooler fall.. to move it.. you might have done it ...

phlox is a common name.. so what will happen with those you love ... the free range ones.... will be dependant on exactly what they are ....

most stuff ... is sowable.. when the actual plant drops the seed ... so there is no reason not to collect the seed.. and sow it in your own yard ....

the problem is that you will have to remember where you did that.. because they may not start growing until next spring.. and by that time.. you might not recall ... and kill them all as a bunch of weeds... been there.. done that.. lol ...

ken

ps:.. there is also the winter sowing forum....

Thanks Ken. You are right. I did jump the gun on moving it! Wished I hadn't!!!! It was a white one, very pretty and something you don't see around here. The ones up the road are purple. May try to get some. I have another question regarding harvested seed. You are supposed to keep them in a air tight jar....in a cool place. One of the catalog seed companies told me to keep the seeds in the freezer; however last year I tucked away some marigold seeds in the freezer and they did nothing after I planted them. I did have them in an envelope, so that may have been the problem. What are your thoughts?
Casi

my lilac phlox.. seed out to white for the most part ... i presume a degeneration of the dna cross ....

think about putting a piece of chicken in the freezer.. for 6 months ... freezer burn .... which is dehydration of the tissue ...

now.. you tell me what happened to the seed you put in there ....

you do have a cooler for seeds in your zone.. its called.. YOUR GARAGE ..... all you have to protect against is vermin ... mice ...

you have three options...

1... sow them when they are ripe.. and let mother earth take care of biz.... if you plant 100 FREE seeds... and mark the spot .. you WILL get something to come up.. after all.. they do grow free range on the side of the road ... what you did.. with your freezer.. is kill them with too much love ...

option 2 .... learn about winter sowing.. of which i know nothing .... but seem to read ... its easy.. carefree.. and pretty successful ...

option 3 .... store them in an envelope.. allow them to dry during the fall ... and then store them in a dry plastic box .. in the garage.. in z5 ... and plant them in spring ...

below is a pic of hosta seeds drying in a box top ... dry seeds will not mildew nor rot.. ya know.. they found hops seeds in a beer factory next to the pyramids ... a couple thousand years old .... and as i recall ... they were viable ... no freezer.. and no love.. lol ...

i suspect.. you will do much better.. if you intuit what need be done.. rather than thinking too much about it all .. or getting all confused zooming the web ....

be the seed ....

ken

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Casi - I harvest seeds from all my perennials every year as soon as I start seeing ripe seedpods. I currently have the following seeds spread out on paper plates inside my garage where they can dry outside the pods:

Columbine
Dianthus/pinks
Gayfeather/liatris
Coral bells
Siberian iris
Daylily
Mallow
Feverfew
Coreopsis
Peony poppy
Hardy hibiscus
Baptisia/false indigo
Lupine
Hosta
Hollyhock
Shasta daisy
Veronica
Meadow sage

Once the seeds have had a few weeks to dry completely, I store them in small plastic containers (salad dressing-size) with lids. I start winter sowing around the middle of December and keep going until April. Here are a few of the successes from my first attempt at winter sowing:

WS Hollyhock
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WS Balloon flower
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WS Gaura/wand flower
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WS Rudbeckia hirta ÂAutumn ColorsÂ
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WS California poppy
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WS Maltese cross
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WS Hollyhock
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WS Nasturtium
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WS Peony poppy ÂWhite CloudÂ
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WS Mallow ÂVulcanÂ
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I've been storing seeds in my freezer for years and it works great. In fact, I've been using the same package of basil seeds for about 10 years now since I only sow a few seeds each year because I only need a few plants. Not sure why yours didn't keep for you. I use envelopes for each variety and keep everything in a plastic box with a lid.

Kevin

hey kevin... probably the plastic box ....

ken

Ken

Probably right. I just had another thought about storing seeds in a glass jar in the freezer - not a good idea. Every time you take the jar out, condensation is going to form on the glass and potentially drip onto the seeds. That would make them worthless fast.

Maybe the marigold seeds in question weren't fully ripe or dry before you stored them? Now that I think of it, a couple of years ago I tried saving some marigold seeds from my garden and got zippo germination the next spring. Odd.

Kevin

my phlox self-sow and I started with 'Robert Poore' and a salmon pink. The pink self-sows as a dark lavender.

echinacea 'Prairie Splendor', 'Ruby Star', and 'White Swan' (the ones I am growing, there are others) can be grown from harvested seeds.

butterfly bush 'Royal Red' quickly grows to full size from seeds.

candy lily/blackberry lily

amsonia hubrichtii

perennial ageratum (was classified as a eupatorium, but I think that has changed)

verbena bonariensis

salvia nemorosa 'Caradonna', 'Rose Sensation', 'Marcus'.

nepeta

bronze fennel

lavender (my Spanish lavender tends to be the easiest to grow from seeds)

gaillardia (many colors, though pollinators will change the color of the blooms on some)

I winter-sowed 3 species of Phlox from seed - Phlox paniculata, P. divaricata, and P. maculata but I purchased the seed, didn't collect it. Phlox paniculata had the best germination, and grows quickly - blooms the 2nd year. Also, the P. paniculata cultivars I bought at the the nursery such as 'Nora Leigh', 'David' and 'Tracey's Treasure' all reseed quite a bit in the garden. Some of the seedlings come out nice so I transplant them here and there - usually in the Spring, but the fall is okay too.

Collecting seed is pretty easy, but takes a little practice to find the seed in the plant and also recognize when the seed is ripe. Buying seed is even easier and it's fun to try new types of seed - and they're a lot cheaper than plants!

I keep my seed stored in one of the produce drawers in the refrigerator, with dessicants thrown in the drawer. My seed stays viable for a long time, every year I germinate seeds that are 10 or more years old.

I sure wish that I had tried with some of my perennials. I have 4 beautiful hollyhocks, but I don't know where to find the seeds. I thought that if I just laid the stalks down in the dirt that they might go to seed, but they never have. I am in the process of trying to harvest some zinnia seeds, something I never have done before. I won't put them in the freezer though! I have thought about winter sowing, may try it this year. Gardenweed, your pics are very inspiring. How about Rose of Sharon? Where would the seeds be on them? Last Fall a fellow Gardenweber sent me some sprouts but they didn't survive the Winter. I still have blooms on mine, maybe I could save them til Spring?

casi - rose of Sharon is supposed to be hardy to Z5 but your micro-climate may not be suited to them. Gathering seed is SO easy on them, though--just look where the flowers were and watch for a small (1/2 inch in diameter) round brown seed pod. When the seed pod is dry it opens at the tip and you can see the seeds inside. I'll be harvesting LOTS of seeds this fall from my own & my neighbor's ROS so let me know if you want some. I'll also try & get a picture of a seed head & post it here for you in the next day or so.

It is very easy, and you've got some great advice above. (Beautiful flowers, Gardenweed.)

Definitely check out the Wintersowing forum and Trudi's non-profit site wintersown.org.

There is a lot of very good information on the site I've linked below. Keep in mind the author is in the UK, but most of the data applies equally well here in the States. For a very useful chart go to "Database" - pictures of seed pods, seeds and seedlings, notes and recommended germination method.

Remember that many freezers and most refrigerators are auto defrost, so can dry out seeds if they are not in an airtight container. I store most of my collected seeds in paper envelopes in a cooler part of the house (not the basement - too humid), but not in the fridge.

If you allow the seeds to mature, dry thoroughly, and store them in a cool, dry place, you should have success.

Here is a link that might be useful: The Seed Site