Our garden is dotted with dozens of colorful annual flowers: calendula, cosmos, zinnia… you name it! Bees and butterflies fill the air, flitting from one prized food source to another. Unlike some meticulously-groomed flower gardens, ours is on the wild side, with both bright and faded brown blooms everywhere you look. Yet it is a bit unkempt on purpose, and for good reason: so we can seed-save! (Not to mention the wildlife likes it wild too.)
Hey flower lovers! I’ve spent years growing and collecting seeds from my garden, and one question I get asked ALL the time is whether you can harvest seeds from cut flowers. Let me break this down for ya – the short answer is usually no for store-bought cut flowers, but there’s so much more to the story!
Why Store-Bought Cut Flowers Usually Won’t Work
Here’s the deal – most cut flowers from stores, florists, or farmers’ markets are harvested way too early in their lifecycle for seed production. They’re basically interrupted mid-way through their baby-making process! Here’s why
- Flowers are cut before pollination happens
- Without pollination, seeds can’t develop
- Cutting stems stops nutrient flow needed for seed production
- Commercial growers harvest young blooms for longest vase life
But Wait! What About Garden-Cut Flowers?
If you’re cutting flowers from your own garden you’ve got more options! While regular cutting for bouquets won’t give you seeds, you can definitely plan ahead for seed saving. Here’s what I do
- Tag your best plants early (I use bright flagging tape)
- Let selected blooms mature fully on the plant
- Wait until flowers are completely spent
- Collect when seed heads are dry and brown
Best Flowers for Seed Saving
These beauties are my top picks for beginner seed savers:
- Marigolds
- Zinnias
- Cosmos
- Sunflowers
- Calendula
- Bachelor’s Buttons
- Poppies
- Larkspur
How to Know When Seeds are Ready
Look for these signs that your seeds are good to go:
- Flower petals have wilted and fallen off
- Seed heads turn brown and dry
- Seeds easily release when gently shaken
- Center of flower becomes dark and dried out
My Step-by-Step Seed Collection Process
-
Choose Your Plants
- Pick the healthiest, prettiest plants
- Mark them with bright tape
- Don’t deadhead these specific blooms
-
Wait for Full Maturity
- Let flowers completely die back
- Be patient! This takes 2-3 weeks after blooming
- Check seeds are firm and dark colored
-
Harvest Time
- Cut stems on a dry day
- Place heads in paper bags
- Keep different varieties separate
-
Processing Seeds
- Dry further if needed
- Gently break apart seed heads
- Screen or sift to clean seeds
- Remove chaff by winnowing
Storage Tips & Tricks
Listen up! This part’s super important for keeping your seeds viable:
- Store in paper envelopes (I learned plastic can trap moisture – yuck!)
- Keep in cool, dry place
- Label everything (trust me, you’ll forget what’s what!)
- Use within 1-2 years for best results
- Consider freezing for longer storage
Common Mistakes to Avoid
We’ve all been there! Here are some oopsies to watch out for:
- Collecting too early (patience is key!)
- Missing the collection window (seeds scatter)
- Not labeling properly (been there, done that!)
- Storing seeds while damp
- Saving from hybrid varieties (they won’t grow true)
Pro Tips from My Garden to Yours
After years of trial and error, here’s what I’ve learned:
- Save seeds from open-pollinated varieties only
- Focus on one variety per species to prevent crossing
- Keep records of what works best
- Share extras with garden friends
- Start small and expand gradually
When to Just Buy New Seeds
Sometimes it’s better to purchase fresh seeds, especially for:
- Hybrid varieties (F1)
- Plants with complex breeding needs
- Varieties you’re not sure about
- When you need guaranteed results
While you can’t usually get seeds from cut flowers bought at stores, seed saving from your garden flowers is totally doable and super rewarding! Start with easy varieties, be patient, and learn as you grow. Trust me, there’s nothing quite like growing flowers from seeds you’ve saved yourself – it’s like having a piece of garden magic in your pocket!
Remember, gardening’s all about learning and having fun. Don’t stress if things don’t work out perfect the first time – that’s just part of the journey! Happy seed saving, friends!
Got questions about saving seeds from specific flowers? Drop ’em in the comments below – I’d love to help!
The Best Time to Save Seeds from Annual Flowers
The key to successfully saving seeds from annual flowers is to let the blooms completely mature and dry out while they are still on the plant. The longer they’re allowed to develop and dry on the mother plant, the better.
Seeds will not continue to develop when fresh flowers are removed and dried off the plant. This means that cut flowers (those used in bouquets) or even fading, half-dead flowers (such as those pruned during routine deadheading) aren’t ideal for seed-saving.
RELATED: Learn more about deadheading flowers to extend the blooming season and grow larger, healthier plants! Our guide explores the many benefits of deadheading, best flowers that benefit from it, and exactly when and how to do so.
A fading marigold flower, ready to harvest for seed. In addition to the petals drying out, notice how brown the once-green base has also become. Inside that brown base are dozens of long skinny black marigold seeds.
A nice big pinch full of marigold seeds.
RELATED: Before your flowers go to seed, save some of your most beautiful blooms to preserve for dried flower crafts! Learn how to press flowers 4 ways in our beginner’s guide.
How to Collect and Save Annual Flower Seeds
- Choose the most luscious, robust, and healthy-looking flowers to save seed from. Good genes are passed on!
- Allow the chosen flower head to fade and dry out on the plant. Ideally, even the green base of the flower (pedicel) and individual stem should become brown and dry as well. However, don’t let it sit there forever! Collect seeds before the head crumbles and they drop seed (though some annual flowers hold together nicely for a long time, like zinnia). Large nasturtium seeds are easy to collect once they fall to the ground.
- Use clean pruning snips to remove the spent flower head. Rather than cutting off the head alone, follow its single stem down until you reach a junction of side branches or leaves, and trim there. This method of dead-heading helps promote more blooms and also looks more clean than topping the heads only. If you aren’t ready to work with the cut dry flower heads quite yet (or if they aren’t 100% dry) store them in a brown paper bag for a week or two.
- Extra-crumbly, large, or visible seeds like calendula can be collected directly into your hand from the plant before removing the flower. Otherwise, gather the cut dry flower heads on a clean work surface such as a table or tray – where you can pull them apart to easily save seeds, as opposed to losing them!
- As you gently break apart the dry flower heads, sift through and look for developed seeds. Set those aside to save. Every variety of flower will have different size and shape of seeds inside, along with some hulls/chaff and other dry flower matter. Mature seeds will be more thick and firm (and usually darker in color) than the surrounding fluff. They will also be located in the centermost portion of the flower head, possibly attached at the base.
- Since flower petals are designed to help spread seed in the wind once dry, the amount of petals on a flower often correlates to how many seeds are present in the dry head! For example, a simple cosmos flower may only provide a handful of seeds, while a big fluffy double zinnia can provide dozens or more. This isn’t always the case of course. Consider sunflowers and their huge seed-to-petal ratio!
Calendula seeds are large and C-shaped, concentrated around the outside of the dry flower head. Simply crumble them off into your hand.
Zinnia seeds look like tiny arrowheads. If you pull on the dry petals, the seeds will usually still be attached at the base. Sparse zinnia with a large middle “beehive” center will produce less seed than the more full fluffy heads shown below.
These extra poufy zinnia will provide dozens of seeds per head (ideal for seed-saving!) compared to the lesser amount found in the zinnia flower shown in the photo above.
You know when poppy seeds are ready to harvest when the pods dry out, and then their little “top hat” lifts up to expose a ring of open holes around the top of the pod. Green poppy pods are totally enclosed, and will slowly start to expose those holes as they dry. Once fully dry, simply tip the poppy pod into a bowl or jar and lightly twirl it around as seeds coming sprinkling out from the holes. Poppies are one of the easiest (and most fun) annual flowers to harvest seed from!
How to Collect & Save Flower Seeds
FAQ
Can you propagate store-bought cut flowers?
When you receive a beautiful bouquet of cut flowers, it’s natural to wonder if you can transform those blooms into new plants. While it’s not possible to directly plant cut flowers from a bouquet into the ground, you can indeed propagate some of them by using cuttings.
Are seeds from cut flowers viable?
Most cut flower garden seeds maintain their viability for up to two years, but germination rates decrease over time.
Can you save seeds from cut zinnias?
No, you cannot reliably save viable zinnia seeds from cut flowers. Zinnias for cut flowers are typically harvested before the seed has fully matured, when the blooms are at their peak.
Can you collect seeds from a flower?
You can collect seeds from any flowers, whether they are annual flowers or perennials, and grow them in your garden. I love gathering annual flower seeds, as these plants will not return to the garden the following year unless they are replanted again.
Can you harvest seed from cut flowers?
Many people ask if they can harvest seed from cut flowers, such as with cut sunflowers. This is not likely unless your cut flowers were cut at a later stage from the garden. Most cut flowers harvested for the vase are cut at a time before they start dropping any pollen, and before they are pollinated.
Are cut flowers good for seed-saving?
As old flower heads wither and die, they’re paving the way for new life by developing seeds inside. The same goes for many vegetable, legume, and grain plant seeds. The longer they’re allowed to develop and dry on the mother plant, the better. This means that cut flowers (those used in bouquets) aren’t ideal for seed-saving.
Should you collect seeds from your garden?
Harvesting seeds from your garden can be a wonderful and rewarding experience. Collecting your own seeds allows you to try your hand at growing new hybrids and flowering plants that have been adapted to your garden. The savings is a bonus, as the expense of buying new seeds every year can add up pretty quickly.
Do cut flowers have seeds?
Most cut flowers harvested for the vase are cut at a time before they start dropping any pollen, and before they are pollinated. Therefore in cut flowers, seeds do not have an opportunity to develop once the flower stem is separated from the root system.
Why do we collect and save annual flower seeds?
Rather than allowing seeds to fall and scatter haphazardly (which we do plenty of too!), collecting and saving annual flower seeds makes it easy to re-plant them in more deliberate locations next season. Most annual flowers are prolific seed-bearers.