Many gardeners save seeds from their flower (and vegetable) gardens to plant and grow the following year. Seed savers do this for many reasons. Some flower gardeners save seeds as an economizing or money saving step, or to have a ready stock of seeds for swapping with gardening friends, or to be able to grow varieties that are not easy to find commercially. Some seed savers just have left over seed and want to keep it for next year. This is the first of a series of three articles on Basic Seed Saving for Flower Gardeners. You may also want to see Harvesting Flower Seeds to Saveand How to Save and Store Flower Seedsfor additional information and tips and step by step directions on how to harvest, save and store your seeds correctly. (See also How to Test Seed Viability if you are wondering if your old seeds are still any good or are having problems getting saved seed to germinate.)
Some gardeners save seeds for sentimental reasons and enjoy growing successive generations of a favorite plant descended from a friend or relative’s garden, or as a souvenir from a favorite place or famous garden.
Some flower gardeners save seeds as a personal contribution toward maintaining and preserving the critical genetic diversity of the planet. Some seed savers simply prefer growing heirloom plants or wild flowers rather than modern hybrids.
Some seed savers hope to carefully select and ultimately refine or develop the seed strain in their garden to a point of perfection. Some seed savers are in fact amateur hybridizers.
There are probably as many reasons to save seed as there are gardeners who do so, but I suspect most gardeners save seeds because it’s fun and easy!
Whatever your reason for seed saving, the most important steps to successful seed saving include identifying worthwhile plants to save the seed from, allowing the seed to mature before harvesting it, and then storing the seed in a cool and dry place to preserve its viability.
To learn which seeds are best to save, how to collect the seeds, and how to store them so they stay fresh over time, see More Basic Seed Saving for Flower Gardeners:
Harvesting Flower Seeds to Save
How to Save and Store Flower Seeds
All Flower Gardens Articles So Far
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