which annual seeds are worth collecting

paul2louise

SaverSueG wrote: »

Try Sweet Peas, Nicotiana, Black-eyed Suzie.

Just make sure seeds (eg tomato) are not F1 varieties otherwise they won't come true.

Tomatoes are a doddle, just dry on kitchen paper and store somewhere cool. I've grown some this year which were 8 years old.

Have fun. :beer:

how do you know if they are F1 varieties

paul2louise

just bought nigella, callendula, wallflower, aubrietta, nicotiana, some other nasturtium, sweet william and some wild primrose seeds so i will be busy gettting these into seeds trays. thanks for all the suggestions

SaverSueG

Hi sorry if I confused you! Most of the newer varieties of tomato eg Santa, Sweet Millions are F1. I would do a search on Google if it doesn't say on the packet. The older varieties eg Gardeners Delight, Moneymaker are open pollinated. Usually you can get a good indication by the number of seeds in the packet - F1 varieties have to be specially pollinated so you only get 20 or so seeds. Open pollinated ones you usually get hundreds of seeds.

They will all grow, even in my experience seeds saved from a supermarket tomato. Just you will get one of the parent varieties (an F1 is a "child" of two different "parent" tomatoes). Most of the supermarket tomatoes will be F1.

Hope this helps.

paul2louise

I want to collect the seeds from my wallflower. Is is too early yet. Do I just collect the pods and dry them out. Tried to put a picture of them on here but cant do it. I have put a link instead
http://www.flickr.com/photos/47336672@N08/4656541990/

Any tips thanks

Louise

izzwizz_2

Lots of wild flower seed like ox-eye daisies, ragged robin, foxgloves.

Hi Louise, collect the pods when they look brown and dry, then separate the seeds from the chaff and make sure the seeds are good and dry before storing in a labelled envelope. Store your envelopes in a tin and keep somewhere cool, dry and frost-free.

cjb02

I find that alyssum, calendulas and borage self seed exceptionally well, now sure how to go about collecting the seed though

Dustykitten

love in the mist;foxgloves;aquiligia;forget-me-knots; honesty; verbena; lupins; sweetpeas

savemoney

Wallflowers some varieties have seeds. I am growing some now from seeds I collected 2 years ago

I collect Pot marigolds, sweetpeas, lupins

Davesnave

Annuals are OK, but the real excitement comes from perennials & shrubs.

The best time to visit large open gardens is October.

Or there's this, at any time of year:

http://www.chilternseeds.co.uk/chilternseeds/moreinfo/d/mixture+bargain+basement+lottery+mixture+hardy+shrubs+trees/pid/31513373/

Dustykitten

Davesnave guessing you are a dahlia fan!