you harvest the annuals/biennials .... .. and store them in regular envelops... in a cool place ..... and sow them in spring.. where you want them ... in other words.. harvest them, instead of dispersing them.. and hoping for the best ... by this time of year.. its getting to time to be done with the annuals anyway ... harvest and start your fall clean up early ... ken

I grew them one year; they didn't reseed, unfortunately, so I have none to share with you, but at least I can bump the thread for you and perhaps bring it to the attention of others who do have the plant. The flowers are lovely, I think. (On the other hand, perhaps I should count myself fortunate that, though Bachelor's Button is known to "reseed freely," mine did not. Apparently, like many non-native plants, it is considered an invasive weed in some states, though not yet designated as such here in Colorado. (Other plants in the Centaurea family are on the Colorado list, by the way.) With my on-going (possibly losing) battle with Creeping Campanula, any plant that is touted as "reseeding freely" rather worries me at this point!) Holly

plz add your location to your name ... on the members page ... if you plan on being around much ... sowing seed this time of year .. is hard .. e.g. here in MI its been 90 plus degrees .. and that isnt seedling heat ... if you get my drift ... they probably wont be able to get enough root down.. to survive the heat.. unless you can mist them every few hours ... its also why.. my beloved cornflowers.. have put out one flower .. and look rather anemic ... ill ignore them.. and see what happens ... if you have the seed.. whats to lose ... on ANYTHING you are thinking about cutting back .... just look down the stem.. and see if you can see small buds where leaves are attached.. if you see them.. they can be cut back ... also.. since you have a ... and i quote.. a gazillion of them ... cut a few ... and see what happens .... in a week ... if there are dormant buds ... in a week they will extend far enough to really see them ... ken

With very few exceptions**, heat is not an issue for growing annuals.......in fact, most thrive on it. It is more a matter of sunlight and adequate water. Very few are going to be very drought tolerant regardless of how hot it might get :-) **There are such things as cool season annuals (often half hardy perennials) that actually germinate and grow best in cooler weather. Snapdragons, pansies, calendula, nigella, annual lobelia are examples of some of these. They tend to die off in midsummer or in extreme heat but thrive in spring and fall. And in some cases, even into winter.