Harvest Annual Seeds For Next Season

For many years I have harvested seeds from my favorite annuals in the fall. The following spring I plant them in my gardens. I usually get a very good crop, so I know this method really works. It saves a little money, but the reason I do it is for the satisfaction it gives me to grow the plants from their ancestors each year.

Some varieties of annuals are easier to work with than others. It usually has more to do with the size of the seeds for a successful "harvest", but most all annuals lend themselves to a natural "replanting" process that mother nature designed right into them.

I found that the easiest flowers to harvest seeds from are marigolds. This I discovered about 35 years ago in my first garden. I had beautiful miniature multi-colored marigolds in every shade of yellow and orange with streaks of red. I had planted them from packaged seeds I purchased from a popular seed company.

Throughout that summer I removed the dead flowers, or deadheaded them. I might have learned that from my mother, but I don't remember exactly. The dead flowers simply looked undesirable and I was cleaning the plants up. I noticed the marigold seeds clustered in the base of the flower. I didn't remember learning this from my high-school biology class. We had spent more time on the animal kingdom, I recall.

These marigold seeds "called me" to save them, plant them, and let them live again. So I put them into envelopes and planted them the following spring. It worked wonderfully and I've done this many years since. I often makeup pots for my deck by sprinkling marigold seeds liberally over potting soil and just water them.

Process for Harvesting Annual Seeds for Planting the Following Season