So why not share the wealth? Why not toss a few poppy seeds into the weedy traffic islands on main thoroughfares? Let's add some of our extra seeds to the grassy areas between lanes on the Interstate.
We probably all pass areas that are neglected and gloomy looking. Parking lots, vacant lots, neglected playgrounds, overgrown woody areas that seem to belong to no one and could be made quite lovely with the addition of a handful of easy to germinate flower seeds. Does your neighborhood have alleys? Wouldn't a stand of cosmos look nice surrounding the garbage pails?
Better still, why not share that bounty as a surprise for gardening friends? We all know gardeners who are relatively new to the game and struggling to fill what seems like an interminable expanse of soil. Bring them a few seedlings, but then, like Miss Wilmott, sprinkle in the seeds of some lovely annual when they aren't looking.
You could have a signature seed. For instance, I noted a tendency in a few poppies to exhibit deeply fringed edges, which I have encouraged by leaving only those that show signs of fringing in the beds. Those that bloom with smooth edges are ejected before the birds and bees have a chance to do their thing. By now, most of my poppy seeds have a good chance of being fringed, so that eventually, people may notice that only I - and the gardens that I visit - have that particular poppy. Ironically, they are of a silvery lavender color - pallid enough that one could possibly call them 'Dr. Wallace's Ghost' - although they probably won't.
You may have a signature plant of your own. It may be an unusual annual (or one of those cooperative perennials that bloom quickly) that no one else you know grows, but that comes easily from seed. It could be one that you love so much that you grow masses and masses of them so that they are an inevitable and beautiful feature in your yard - and now in your friends' yards and in local alleys and ditches all over town. It could also be a perennial if it sprouts up looking enough like something worth keeping so that your recipients don't weed it away before it has a chance to delight them.
An ideal seed for random acts of beautification, then, is one that is somewhat recognizable as originating with you - if you are sowing beauty for friends (it's such fun to let them puzzle and then finally hit on the right source!) . But if you really want to be a samaritan of seeds, an ideal plant is one that germinates readily and needs light to do it. Any seed that needs to be half an inch underground in darkness won't work for you - you don't have time to dig lots of teeny holes and still be "random" with your gifts.
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