Seed Saving

I love flowers and have really been enjoying the ones I have this year. However now is the time to start thinking about next year. The flowers when they get done blooming (if you don't dead head them) start making seeds. It is good to dead head them early on so that the plants keep blooming but at the end of the summer I want to get some seeds. I enjoy getting the seeds and I like the fact that I won't have to buy any next year!


These Bachelor buttons at left are easy to save seeds from. Just pull off the dried up flower heads and store (make sure they are very dry before you put them in something air tight). When time to plant pull it apart, each flower has oodles of seeds.


Zinnias (at left) are done the same way as the Bachelor buttons. Each flower has around 100 seeds in it. Marigolds are the same way.

The Flax (the little blue flowers) get little balls of seeds where the flower was. Let them dry thoroughly. There are quite a few seeds in each ball.
Morning glories also get balls of little black seeds. Pansies and Johny-jump-ups will do the same thing. Those will all reseed themselves for the next year as long as it doesn't freeze to hard.
I am hoping to get into saving vegetable seeds too, but haven't done much of it yet. I like the idea of being able to have my own seeds and save some money that way. "The Encyclopedia of Country Living" by Carla Emery has more info on seed saving. ( a fun book in many ways)
There is also this seed saving info online.
What is your experience with seed saving?