Collect seedheads or LET THEM SELF-SOW
Use seedheads as a source of new plants, or allow your favourites do their own thing
Some seedheads need culling because they’re far too successful at selfseeding. I regularly remove those of aquilegias, hardy geraniums, crocosmias, eryngiums, aconitums, astrantias, alliums, red valerian (Centranthus ruber), foxgloves, alliums, echinops and wine-red scabious (Knautia macedonica). Otherwise they can take over at the expense of finer things. I have a 2-in-10 rule about hardy annuals such as nigellas, opium poppies, calendulas, nasturtiums and bupleurum: remove eight out of 10 and leave two. Seeds can be saved in envelopes as a back up, or the heads cut just before they’re about to spill their seeds. My all-time favourites are the drumstick scabious (Scabiosa stellata), a papery affair that resembles origami, and love-in-amist. Just hang them upside down and dry them. I never, ever allow highly bred hellebores, agapanthus, border phloxes or lupins to set seed. Seedlings not only drain the mother plant, they tend to be inferior as well, so deadhead these straight after f lowering. Always collect your seeds on a dry day, preferably at midday. The standard kit includes labels, a pencil, scissors and large paper envelopes or bags. Write the label before you collect your seeds and snip off the heads and pop them into large paper bags or envelopes. Most of these seeds can be stored in a cool place and cleaned up later. Keep hardy annuals in an airtight biscuit tin in the shed to sow next spring. Seeds of perennial cyclamen and clematis need a cold shock before they germinate so sow them straight away and keep in a coldframe or unheated greenhouse. Others, including aquilegias, are best left to self sow on their own because they’re not easy to grow in pots. If you get unwanted seedlings, move them in the early stages, but try to take some soil with them. Don’t be too controlling of your self sowers – their own unexpected combinations can produce a very pleasing result. It’s best to sow certain annual umbellifers in autumn, allowing them to overwinter because they make bigger plants. Ammi majus, Orlaya grandiflora and dark forms of carrot (Daucus carota) are best sown as soon as you’ve harvested their seed.
Always collect your seeds on a dry day, preferably at midday