Today is the first day of fall! Let’s embrace the outdoors and help our local ecosystems thrive. Get outside, collect those seeds, and sow the love!
Seeds are ready to be harvested when they are brown and dry, often 2-5 weeks after blooming. When the seeds are ready, usually they fall out quite easily. For example, if you take the head of a bee balm, you can tap the seeds out into your hand. Or run a thumb along the head of a yellow coneflower and the seeds will fall right out.
While harvesting many of these flowers, you have to know which parts are the seeds and which parts are chaff. For instance, purple coneflower has bullet-like seeds, so separate them from the rest of the flower.