Nature's bounty

An earlier post featured this carnation, Dianthus Plumarius, growing in one of my used coffee container systems.

Toward the end of the plant's life cycle I decided to let the flowers go to seed. It was a simple matter of just letting the flowers dry as much as possible on the plant. Before discarding the plant I removed the dry pods and placed them in a dry sunny location until the tops of the seed pods opened. (that is how you know the seeds are ready to harvest) At that point, all you have to do is hold the pod over a paper bag, and tap it to make the seeds fall out.

You can usually collect more seeds from a single plant than the amount of seeds that came in the package when you purchased them. Additionally, the seeds will be fresh and viable.

It is my opinion that seed saving is well worth the extra effort involved. They make great gifts for your gardening friends, and you will always have fresh seed for your collection.

I did a germination test on the seeds I collected, and they germinated in less than 48 hours. The germinated seeds were placed in rockwool cubes, and soon I will have these flowers growing in my soil garden.