>> My LIR salvia didn't seed about freely and the places where it did so were in the crack between the sidewalk and the concrete border

Thanks, Angie! I'll know better next year. This is my first year for having them survive past seedlings. Fortunately, some are bending over a pebbled walk on top of rough clay, so maybe they'll like that better than the amended soil I planted them in!

I have other Salvia leaning over a neighbor's bark-and-plastic anti-plant barrier, but since he used very fine bark, I think they may take hold anyway. (I may have to move the seedlings next spring.) Elsewhere, salvia are leaning over a concrete sidewalk and clay-and-tree-roots-and-weeds-and-moss mess. maybe they'll like that! Or maybe even grow or reseed in the soil I carefully lightened and made drain well for them.

"Lady in Red" sure is pretty!

For me, Alyssum gravitates into the cracks between a concrete sidewalk and the concrete pavers I use as raised bed walls.

I have some Black and blue Salvia that roots easy too. Never have seen seeds.

I think Salvia seeds hide too well!

I'm no expert, but I think that few or only one seed grows at the base of each floret.

I think maybe they tend to fall out as soon as they're ripe (so I should be bagging spikes).

Someone, somewhere, advised pinching the florets before they faded or dropped. If you felt anything solid, like a tiny BB, that would be the seed. Grab it as soon as it's rie or loose it!

I wonder about putting a paper plate or newspaper or plastic under Salvia, to catch some of those rascally seeds!

I've not saved seeds from perennial salvias, but I'm sure it would be just like annuals. Immature seeds generally look green or white, ripe ones will be dark brown to black. Harvest a whole spike when most seeds are mature and black. If some are still unripe, it will be at the tip of the wand. Just break that off and discard. Place wand with ripe seeds in a bag, and allow to dry a week or so. close bag, and shake bag hard, bang it on a table to dislodge seeds. Dump in a sieve with holes big enough to allow seeds to drop through. Discard chaff and you should have viable seeds.

Karen

love that method .. thanks Karen

>> Harvest a whole spike when most seeds are mature and black.

Hmm, so they don't drop out as soon as they're mature? That gives me a lot more options!

Thanks!

I'm not sure about the perennials, Rick, but I'd give it a try. The perennial seeds are smaller, harder to see. Check the stem while the tip is still blooming. Discard the tip, save the rest of the spike and let it dry. Then shake that spike in a bag or plastic container with snap on lid.

They're much easier to see in an annual with big old seeds. Immature seeds look white. I don't harvest yet at this point.


When most of the spike has mature seeds, they'll look dark brown to black. I harvest at this point. Discard the tip of the stem if it's seeds are still immature (white or green)


Let them dry in the house for a week or two.



Then do the shake in the bag routine. You should find some seeds.


Karen

wow you must get a ton of seed out of all those stalks

I like the "shake in a bag" idea, even though I sometimes over-pulverize flower heads instead.

"Shake" creates much less fine chaff, so you can clean the seeds easier. I imagine that I may miss some seeds that way, and sometimes pull flowers apart and rub them after they're dry ... then try to find seeds among the dust and chaff.

It has to be smarter to just shake. If you don't have enough mature seeds to harvest them that way, try again next year.

We have a non-rainy daty forcast for Saturday (hurray) so i'll go harvest all brown spikes and pluck a few colored florets to see if they have a white or green BB or speck.

I've been waiting months for my California Poppy seeds to mature. Seemingly overnight, many pods went from green with white seeds to brown split-open pods.

Rick, I'm not all that particular in cleaning seeds. I usually leave a fair amount of chaff mixed in. I'm too lazy for that. I just sow seeds and chaff together- the seeds don't care.

Karen

>> I just sow seeds and chaff together

For me sowing my own seeds: totally.

The Alyssum I harvested seemed to be mistly chaff and immature seeds even after sieving, but then I test-sprouted some. based on what I THOUGHT were seeds, I seemed to get 150% of higher germination rates. I would rather scatter a fat pinch than a tiny pinch anyway.

But when I save for trading, my ego kicks in and I want to get them clean if I can. Silly, but when it isn't TOO much work, I do what I can I can.

I tried outdoor winnowing just once! No effect or "blown away". I guess you have to pick a day with a STEADY gentle breeze. And heavy seeds.

But I like seives, like 24-mesh window-screening-in-an-embroidery hoop. Fabric or craft stores also have 1/8" nylon mesh fabric that can be held in an embroidery hoop. Kitchen strainers are 18 mesh or 30 mesh.

I like wire cloth in big, funnel-like PVC pipe adapters ("DWV Sewer & Drain Adapters", from Katlien over in the old DG). But you have to order 12"x12" squares from MSC Direct or other online sources (Big Book Pages 1888-1891)
http://www1.mscdirect.com/CGI/...

every time I try blowing it away... the seeds go with it.. never worked for me

Ditto.

I've thought about a big cardboard box with a small fan taped to a hole in one side. Baffles or window screening to even out the flow. Dividers on the floor.

I saw a video (YouTube?) where someone had a big window fan on the floor, 5 gallon bukcets of seed plus chaff, and big tarps. I wnat something about 1% as big as that, that I can use indoors. Maybe a discarded fan from a desktop computor.

For many seeds, some sieves and some hand-picking work OK. Or old-fashioned hippy-days "panning for gold" in a shoebox lid, rolling seeds one way and chaff the other way. Or so I've read.

I usually do that on a paper plate... and must sing... shake shake shake... shake shake shake.. shake your booty

>> and must sing

Cool!

I feel like an alchemist with my sieves and funnels and little plant ieces spread around me in hand-labelled paper saucers.

yeah sorry to say I am not a good seed cleaner

If the Windmill Powered Aeronautic Seed De-chaffer and Vacuum Cleaner
doesn't catch on, I have ideas involving electrostatic belts and rollers!

Igor!!

Where's my Van de Graff generator!!

(zzzzap! zzzzzap!)

Coming, Master!!

So far my effort to root some daphne cuttings in water with a twig of willow is a failure with the daphne, but the willow twig has grown some huge rootlets! I'll give the daphne more time.

Shoe, your comment to my earlier posting about my "huge" daphne will be honored with a photo of the trunk of my plant as soon as I can download my photos from the camera.

Gotta catch up on this thread because y'all left me way behind!

Okay. Here's that daphne trunk:




It may not look that large in the photo, but it's bigger around than my wrist and about the size of my forearm, which is not huge but certainly not small! This daphne has been in the ground for about 12 or 13 years in this same spot and yes, it does perfume the entire back patio area when it blooms, a delicious fragrance which heralds the arrival of spring to me!!