Thrift y gardening

SEED SAVING

Propagating plants from seeds or cuttings is both economical – it is far cheaper than buying small plants – and satisfying, as you watch the young plants that you’ve nurtured grow. You can also collect your own seeds from many of the plants in the garden and increase your stock for free. Many annuals and biennials, including foxgloves, honesty, Californian poppies and cornflowers, will readily self-sow, too, with nature adding to your floral display; just remove any seedlings that pop up where you don’t want them and replant elsewhere.

By late summer into autumn, seedheads will be ready for you to start gathering them. Seeds are naturally packaged in a variety of pods, cones, berries, catkins, capsules, nuts, winged seed or exploding seedheads.

Choose a dry day to collect ripened seeds from healthy plants, before the seedheads open and disperse their contents. Hang or place them on a warm windowsill or greenhouse bench to dry. If the pods or capsules don’t open when dry, release