Collecting seeds

Hello,

The start of October is a wonderful time to collect seed heads.

Pick a dry day late in the afternoon and see what you can find.

Poppies, hollyhocks, scabiosa, sweet peas and love in a mist are some of my favourites.

I like to snip off the whole seed head, or you can sprinkle the seeds straight onto the envelope.

Seeds like to be kept in dry conditions so there is no use in storing slightly damp seeds as they will rot.

Label the packet straight away so you know what you've got, this may seem obvious but in my early days as a gardener the phone would ring or something would happen and the next day I'd have envelopes of surprise seeds.

Seed heads also look lovely arranged indoors and make pretty props for styling.

Left outdoors to form into skeletal wonders they catch the last of the watery autumn sunlight and make ideal structures for spiders webs which early in the morning will glisten with dew diamonds.

Also by leaving some seed heads they do not only add interest to the garden but are great for birds and other wildlife.