A Seed Saver's Garden

[heirloomgal]

Thanks for this @flowerbug I do so appreciate when I can get info like this, where someone has actually grown the flower/veg I'm going to grow and can share the details that are hard/impossible to dig up on the net. I didn't even know they had another name besides Kingfisher Daisy, I like 'Greecian Wildflower' better.

I have a whole bunch of annual flowers I've ordered now (way too many really) and I'm really hoping I'll be able to figure out how to capture the seeds before they shatter. Blue Ensign convolvulus really befuddles me, and I ordered the rarer red one to try. I wonder if some annual flowers you need to grow them in a pot and place it on a white sheet when the seeds are about ready. It is one of the seed groups I have the most trouble with bar none - annual flowers.

 

[flowerbug]

Thanks for this @flowerbug I do so appreciate when I can get info like this, where someone has actually grown the flower/veg I'm going to grow and can share the details that are hard/impossible to dig up on the net. I didn't even know they had another name besides Kingfisher Daisy, I like 'Greecian Wildflower' better.

this pic shows one garden where i planted about 20 of them to start back in 2010, this picture was taken in 2016. it is now pretty much covered with them. so pretty when it blooms. then it drops seeds and fades out by mid-summer.

I have a whole bunch of annual flowers I've ordered now (way too many really) and I'm really hoping I'll be able to figure out how to capture the seeds before they shatter. Blue Ensign convolvulus really befuddles me, and I ordered the rarer red one to try. I wonder if some annual flowers you need to grow them in a pot and place it on a white sheet when the seeds are about ready. It is one of the seed groups I have the most trouble with bar none - annual flowers.

if you pick the seeds when they are full in the pods but before the pods dry down completely you should be able to dry them to finish yourself in a more controlled environment. it may take a few tries to figure out the optimal harvest time but you'll get it sorted...

 

[meadow]

I'm really hoping I'll be able to figure out how to capture the seeds before they shatter.

What about little organza 'party favor' type bags? @aftermidnight recommended them in one of the early bean threads for preventing cross-pollination in beans. I bet they'd work.

eta: they come in all kinds of sizes

 

[Pulsegleaner]

Here is one of the flowers I'm thinking of trying, I need to hear back from the fellow selling seeds to be sure that I, at least theoretically, have a chance to get them to seed. I really hope he says yes! I just started reading War of the Worlds with my kids, so it just seems fitting.
'Sturt's Desert Pea' -
View attachment 47373

I hate to burst your bubble, but Sturt's Desert Pea is REALLY hard to grow. Basically, the biggest problem you'll face is that the seeds naturally only germinate after they have been through a BRUSH FIRE, so you have to figure out a way to replicate THAT at home (I think someone said you can do it in an oven, but don't remember how)

Going to try a few other lesser widely grown legumes, like Lupini beans and Ethiopian Lentils. Little concerning the alkaloid situation with them, but I figure if I can buy them from a reputable seller without an attached warning they can't be to risky. Pretty stoked to see what these will be like!

In general, you can minimize the danger by focusing on the palest seeds (thought this can also result in less colorful flowers if you are focusing on that as well, so it's sort of a trade off.)

Lupini beans tend to be bred to pure whiteness, so you should be OK. But take care if you decide to branch out into the other lupine species. You can probably get away with choclos (Andean lupine) without much trouble (though you do find the odd brown speckled seed in those, which should be discarded if you are going for optimum food). But don't try any of the native ones without leaching. And if you try for Lupinus pilosus (Altrei coffee) remember that you have to ROAST the seeds before they are safe to grind up and drink.

Lentils should be safe no matter what (just remember they are VERY wearying to pick by hand.)

 

[heirloomgal]

this pic shows one garden where i planted about 20 of them to start back in 2010, this picture was taken in 2016. it is now pretty much covered with them. so pretty when it blooms. then it drops seeds and fades out by mid-summer.

if you pick the seeds when they are full in the pods but before the pods dry down completely you should be able to dry them to finish yourself in a more controlled environment. it may take a few tries to figure out the optimal harvest time but you'll get it sorted...

Oh my gosh it's so pretty! And it comes back every year too? I was thinking of planting it in a container, but maybe not now. We're not separated by much in terms of zones I think, so I might be able to do that too. Thank you, so awesome!

 

[flowerbug]

Oh my gosh it's so pretty! And it comes back every year too? I was thinking of planting it in a container, but maybe not now. We're not separated by much in terms of zones I think, so I might be able to do that too. Thank you, so awesome!

yes perennial, it is a small tuber, black, also may cause some reactions on the skin if you're sensitive so might want to wear gloves if you notice you have reactions.

 

[heirloomgal]

I hate to burst your bubble, but Sturt's Desert Pea is REALLY hard to grow. Basically, the biggest problem you'll face is that the seeds naturally only germinate after they have been through a BRUSH FIRE, so you have to figure out a way to replicate THAT at home (I think someone said you can do it in an oven, but don't remember how)





In general, you can minimize the danger by focusing on the palest seeds (thought this can also result in less colorful flowers if you are focusing on that as well, so it's sort of a trade off.)

Lupini beans tend to be bred to pure whiteness, so you should be OK. But take care if you decide to branch out into the other lupine species. You can probably get away with choclos (Andean lupine) without much trouble (though you do find the odd brown speckled seed in those, which should be discarded if you are going for optimum food). But don't try any of the native ones without leaching. And if you try for Lupinus pilosus (Altrei coffee) remember that you have to ROAST the seeds before they are safe to grind up and drink.

Lentils should be safe no matter what (just remember they are VERY wearying to pick by hand.)

I was hoping you'd jump in @Pulsegleaner because I thought it was likely you might have tried some of these, or know about them! Yes, I did read that it's hard to start from seed, you need to pour just boiled water over the seeds or nick them, which would be hard because I think they're quite tiny. It's a little $3.50 gamble. I REALLY hope I can get them going though. I've watched a couple videos on them already, looking for people who have grown it with success out of Oz and I haven't found anyone yet. But in one of the youtube planting episodes the man used gritty gravel for those seeds, which struck me as quite different from the near sand it grows in. But Pro-Mix probably wouldn't be a good idea either. I'm thinking near straight sand might do it.

These lentils are not the two in a pod circular kind, they go by a different name, can't recall it at the moment, but it is some leguminous food that Ethiopians eat during drought and challenging growing seasons, but there is a percentage of people every year that get some kind of debilitating disease from them due to the quantity being eaten. (Lathyrism?) It survives a lot but concentrates its toxins in drought so double edged sword I think with that. It makes a really pretty bright blue tiny flower on grass like stems.

 

[heirloomgal]

yes perennial, it is a small tuber, black, also may cause some reactions on the skin if you're sensitive so might want to wear gloves if you notice you have reactions.

Tubers grow beneath those blue Greecian Windflowers? They don't come back from seeds?

 

[flowerbug]

Tubers grow beneath those blue Greecian Windflowers? They don't come back from seeds?

right. the seeds will take a year or more to get big enough and start flowering. every flower can have 20 or more seeds and they look like they're as big as raspberry seeds.

 

[heirloomgal]

right. the seeds will take a year or more to get big enough and start flowering. every flower can have 20 or more seeds and they look like they're as big as raspberry seeds.

The company I bought the seeds from list it as an annual? That it will flower by July?