Question
Hiya Tom

My experience is growing plants from seed is good but it is mainly bedding plants. I have grown perrenials from seed by mistake, e.g. i have i Cyclamen seedling in my greenhouse but i have no idea how it got there and a Bloody Cranesbill seedling that i have that self sowed in the lawn and now that is in my greenhouse. By the way you was NOT harsh, personally i think its a waste of time with most hybrids and few to come true to type. But the seedlings do have quality at times. That is my explanation to  your wondering.

How do you collect seed off Pelargonium, as i have been trying to let them set seed but the seed pods die before they ripen but my Cranesbill has had seeds and they are both in the Geraniceae.

I must say that the Bloody Cranesbill is a wild flower in the UK, so I am not surprised it self sowed. The parent plant is small and it flowered this spring and i missed all the seeds as the wings broke up but at least i got one seedling. Why are my Pelargoniums seed pods forming so far and then dying before ripening up and splitting?

As you said, they are F1 hybrids and will not come true but at least i will get new colors. I have a Pelargonium 'Frank Headley' that is producing pods, but this is a variegated plant and i also have a Pelargonium 'MRS. Pollock'; another fancy leaved type. What will offspring be like?

I know that the seedlings will not be variegated but will they have the same flower type and color as the parents?

The rest are 'zonals' that have been grown from seed but as i said, these are more than likely F1 and i can not get offspring the same as the parents.

At the moment, they are over-wintering and I am trying to let them seed but i have always had the trouble of them dying off before they ripen. What am I doing wrong?

Even through summer, they still was not setting seed and they were not in the greenhouse but outside in the garden. they have only been in the greenhouse a couple of weeks as it has turned chilly now its October.

What does F1 stand for?

I have always wondered this.

Please help me out Tom.

I'm sorry if i have bored you, but i have a lot more questions to ask ready for you to answer.

After this one, I will send you another one for you to answer.

I know you are experienced at growing perennials from seed but as i said i have experience on bedding perennials and other types of plants. One more question, then i will leave you alone to answer this one about Pelargoniums.

Why do people treat hardy short-lived perennials as biennials?

E.G. Dianthus Barbatus and Digitalis.

Please help me.

Sorry for being boring.

Thank you Tom.

Answer
Hi Jonathan,
Thanx for your question.  I look forward to helping out any way I can.  There have always been a lot of people here in the Internet community willing to help me out with my  horticultural questions and that's how I have learned much of what I know now.

In regard to the pelargonium.  If they don't set seed the chances are that the plant is sterile.  It cannot set viable seed so the seed pod blasts or aborts.  Nothing you can do about that.  Some hybrids are sterile like that.  Some hybrids just won't set any seed at all so you will have to take cuttings to increase your plants.  Pelargonium are relatively easy to start from cuttings.

F1 = Filial one or first generation of crossing between two distinctly different parental plants.

In my opinion, the reason people treat short-lived perennials as biennials is because basically, those plants behave in a biennial manner.  I know some dianthus do that for me.  They grow the first year, bloom the second and then if they don't self-seed well, they're gone.  I was never successful at getting digitalis to self-seed so it always behaved as a biennial for me.  Probably because it gets really hot here in the summertime.

In regard to gathering seed from F1 hybrids, the resulting seedlings will be extremely variable and no one can guarantee what kind of results you will get.  This is an area in which you will just have to take your chances.  There is no predicting what you will get.

I hope I've answered all your questions and I hope this helps.  Talk to you soon!
Tom