Saving Seeds: A Seasonal Guide to Collecting and Storing Flower Seeds

Place seeds in paper envelopes.

• Saving seeds of most hybrid annuals is disappointing—offspring often shrink or lose color yearly. You can't predict quality until bloom (though some, like Nicotiana "Lime Green," flower true).

• Most annual seeds can be gathered, placed in paper envelopes, labeled, and stored cool, dry, and dark until spring.

• All annual ornamental grasses are perfect for seed saving, plus bishop's weed, winged everlasting, borage, creeping zinnia, tithonia, Johnny-jump-up, bells-of-Ireland, most tree mallows, California poppy, and starflower.

• Late summer is seedpod-ripening time for winter bouquets. Flowers often burst with a final flush as temperatures drop, colors vivid against crisp autumn skies.

• As days shorten, some annuals surprise with resilience. Strawflower petals (many from Australia) resist frost, glowing in early fall sun.

• Poppy flowers fade but seedpods remain. Flowering cabbages and kales shine after frost nip.

• Pansies bloom all winter in mild zones, persist in northern gardens until deep snow. Sweet alyssum flowers deep into fall.

• Now is the time to pot geraniums (Pelargonium spp.) for indoor winter bloom. Bedding begonias, ageratums can move to pots for flowers until December's short days.

• Polka-dot plants (Hypoestes phyllostochya) are tropical perennials easily moved indoors. Even marigolds bring gold to winter windowsills.