Question
Every year we spend hundreds of dollars buying a planting annuals. Can you explain how to harvest and store seeds from these. Coleus and impatiens are favorites. Would love to have other flowers but it gets so expensive. We live in zone 7, so as soon as we get cold weather these plants die. How can we harvest these seeds?

Answer
Gerald, you must wait until the plant is totally spent. Do not cut the existing flowers. Once they are spent, they will develop seed pods. Remove the pods and allow them to dry for several days in a warm location. You can then place the pods in a sealed plastic wrap, which in turn should be kept in a sealed Tupperware container in the back of the refrigerator. The seeds will need a three month dormant period.

Impatiens must be sown 12 weeks prior to your last expected frost date. Coleus grow a little faster and can be sown 6 weeks prior.

One word of caution. There are two types of plants: hybrids and heirlooms. Most annuals sold in nurseries are hybrids. These provide the variety of colors we all desire, as well as the disease resistance not found in heirlooms. When harvesting seeds from hybrids, the offspring plants rarely resemble the parent plants. That is why it is best to leave the harvesting of hybrid seeds to the professional breeders.

I hope this answered your question. Please write again if I can ever be of assistance.

Regards,

Mike