Gather up those seeds – and save yourself a packet

EVERY year many of us spend a small fortune filling gaps in our gardens by buying fresh plants and seed packets.

But there’s a clever way to restock your beds, borders and containers for free – by saving seeds from your favourite plants. Late summer until mid-autumn is the prime time to gather seeds from a host of summer-flowering perennials, bulbous plants, hardy annuals and even some edibles. Cleaned up and stored, they’ll be ready for sowing next spring.

All you’ll need is scissors or a pair of secateurs, paper bags, a pen, envelopes and an airtight container.

Among plants suitable for seed-saving are poppy (right), cornflower larkspur, love-in-amist, pot marigold and loads of other hardy annuals, along with ornamental grasses, such as Deschampsia cespitosa, Hordeum jubatum and Stipa gigantea.

Seeds can also be saved from many summer-flowering perennials and bulbs, such as Alchemilla mollis, aquilegia, astrantia, hollyhock, regal lily and scabious. You can harvest seeds from chilli and sweet pepper fruit, the pods produced by beans and peas, and seed heads of lettuce.

Collect seeds when perfectly ripe. This is usually evident by seed heads turning from green to golden brown, or by capsules starting to crack open. Seeds are usually ready to harvest a month after flowers start to fade. Extricate the contents of pods and capsules by shaking them into a bag, and remove seeds from grasses by sliding them off with your fingers. Place a bag over the top of large seed heads, gather together at the bottom and cut the stem, leaving the head inside.

Write the name of every plant you gather on the bag. Remove debris, spread out seeds and place on a windowsill to dry for a few days. When they’re ready, tip seeds into envelopes, seal, label and place in an airtight container. Keep in a cool dark place until spring.