The last two months have seen hundreds of beautiful flowers and now some of those blossoms are going to seed. My job, as the caretaker of this little plot, is to harvest seeds to plant next summer.
I have been pleasantly surprised at how easy cosmos was to grow. This batch was a mix of seeds I had bought from a small, organic seed company and the rest was "my inheritance" from a small flower I used to help out at (which closed down last year).
The flowers all look the same to me, I am not sure what came from which source but, they were all SO easy to grow that I will certainly be saving these seeds.
All shades of red, orange, pink and yellow zinnia's made an appearance this year though I was particularly taken with these bi-colored ones. I love the diversity of zinnias and will be saving seeds from all the colors and especially these yellow and red ones.
I have noticed that while the cosmos and zinnia are in flower they have been making a nice protective roof for the basil plants that are growing under the protection of their leaves.
As I watered this morning I saw fava, cilantro, and calendula plants just sprouting out beneath the protection of basil and the flowers.
For about a half an hour or so I wandered around the pathways gathering cosmos seeds, zinnia flowers and seeds, and a couple of calendula flowers too.
And lastly I placed them on either in the herb dryer of on baskets to slowly dehydrate before they will be stored in the apothecary tonight. Indoors is good for long term storage but the fresh air and indirect sunlight does a lot to move the process along during such a humid time of year.
In the end I also collected plantago and echinacea leaves which will be added to a healing tea mix. The dried flowers are mostly for decoration and of course the flower seeds are destined to be planted again in late spring!
That is amazing! I've tried to plant cosmos last year, but it was way too warm and it burned. I watered it a lot, but they couldn't take so much sun. It was sad as I had that beautiful pink and white variety. I'm not even sure if I have ever seen an orange cosmos like yours. It looks lovely!
I had a huge success with calendula, but I didn't know that they attract thrips, so I took them home to dry and my interior plants got infected and fight for their lives until now. That was my biggest fail!
Aw too bad!! I have definately noticed that cosmos doesnt like it's leaves and flowers to be watered and that too much wind makes the petals fall off. Otherwise they seem to love this spot. I am curious how they will do in my next garden. In years past I have had a lot of calendula but this year only a few, sadly!! I am hoping that more pop up over the next few months. Thanks for sharing about your garden 🌱🌻🦋
🌼 Lovely. How precious a seed is!
truly! how so much plant can come out of such a tiny seeds amazes me.
It is so nice to save seeds from your own plants for another season. You are a good caretaker of your babies ensuring another generation gets to enjoy life.
Yes!! In the past I wasn't too worried about flower seeds but this year the flowers took over most of the garden and have brought so much joy to our lives. Next summer I will be moving so I want to bring all my favorites with me to the next garden 💐☀️