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Seed Saving

© Mary Henry

At the end of the gardening season, one of the most enjoyable of my rituals is saving the seeds for next year. Since my garden is mostly perennials, and the vegetable area is so tiny, why am I saving seeds? It think it must be one of those genetically built in things. It was an important survival tool for our ancestors and I'm motivated to do it even though there is no longer any real need. I like to think that people and plants have evolved together with mutual responsibilities for the other's survival. They (the plants) feed people (or clothe us, or just bring us joy) and we propagate them and protect them from what we can.

Anyway, I usually save the seed from my self-sowing annuals (cosmos, cleome, black-eyed Susans etc.) and spread them in waste places in my neighborhood. There are places in the alley that come up in weeds. There might as well be seeds of things we enjoy to compete for those spots. Now, don't get me wrong. I'm no Johnny Appleseed sort of person. My life is too busy for crusading, so these things happen very close to home - usually within a short walk of my back yard, and it fulfills my impulse to do it.

I also collect seed from the perennials that will come true from seed. If you are in doubt about what you have, look in a good seed catalog and see what varieties are offered. Those can be saved knowing that they will produce more like themselves. Most named varieties are hybrids or selections that have not yet been genetically stabilized. These need to be propagated from divisions, cuttings or perhaps tissue culture to get more of the same. The offspring of the seed will have the characteristics of the genus, but may be very different from the parents. When I lived on a farm, it was sometimes fun to plant these seeds and see what happened. Now I live on a tiny urban lot and don't have the space required to do this.

I also save dried seed stalks that are attractive and make arrangements to enjoy either indoors or outside. If you have a nice heavy something (use your imagination) that won't blow away and won't hold water, arrange the seed heads on your picnic table or other strategic spot in the yard and the birds will enjoy it.

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