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Seed ripening times

seed home

baggy method

I like lists...

Right when the hot sticky days of summer start, and I feel less and less like engaging in the more strenuous gardening activities, collecting seed becomes a favored task. I like gathering seed of as many varieties as possible, to have a good selection both for my own winter seed-starting activities and for trading with fellow seedaholics. Of course, by early summer I've already missed some of the plants that set seed before that time - and with the sheer number of different plants in our garden, many plants get overlooked every year.

That's where this project started - my own desire to have a schedule that shows when seeds ripen for the plants in my garden. For me to print out and carry around with me on those lazy hot days, armed with a supply of little jars and pruning shears. And since gardening is by now an activity I share with my online visitors, I'm putting the information in each of my plant portraits. And on this page, you get them in chronological order. I've just recently started this, and don't want to go by memory - so as I collect seed this year, I'll be updating my records. Which means this page will be a lot more useful next year...

The exact timing of each variety's ripening of course depends on climate and gardening conditions - but hopefully the relative sequence of ripening is more or less the same, even if Southern gardeners will to adjust the dates forward and cold-climate gardeners will have to wait a bit longer.

early June

Anemone cruciata (windflower)
Draba aizoides (whitlow-grass)
Pulsatilla vulgaris (pasque flower)

late June

Anemone baldensis (Mt. Baldo windrose)
Aquilegia bertolonii (columbine)
Aquilegia canadensis (wild red columbine)
Dianthus myrtinervius (Albanian pinks)
Erodium manescavii (heronsbill)
Geranium macrorrhizum (bigroot cranesbill)
Helleborus niger (Christmas rose)
Helleborus x hybridus (lenten rose)
Papaver atlanticum semiplenum (poppy)
Sedum ternatum (woodland stonecrop; wild stonecrop)
Silene dioica (catchfly)
Thermopsis montana? (golden pea, golden banner)
Viola jooi

extended period, starting late June

Viola labradorica (Labrador violet)

extended period, starting late July

Lathyrus latifolius (perennial sweet pea)

early August

Achillea filipendulina 'Cloth of Gold' (fern-leaf yarrow)
Agrostemma githago (corn cockle)
Alchemilla bulgarica (lady's mantle)
Asclepias incarnata (swamp milkweed)
Beta vulgaris (cicla group) 'Bright Lights' (swiss chard)
Dracocephalum ruyschianum (dragonhead)
Eryngium agavifolium (agave-leaved sea holly)
Lathyrus tingitanus (Tangier pea)
Leibnitzia anandria (Leibnitz daisy)
Lysimachia atropurpurea (burgundy gooseneck loosestrife)
Phlomis tuberosa (Jerusalem sage)
Scabiosa stellata (starflower pincushions)

mid-August

Astrantia major (masterwort)
Campanula persicifolia (peach-leaf bellflower)
Dianthus knappii
Eryngium variifolium (Moroccan sea holly)
Legousia speculum-veneris (Venus' looking glass)
Leonotis leonurus (lion's ear)
Primula veris 'Sunset shades' (English cowslip)
Tanacetum parthenium 'Aureum' (golden feverfew)
Thalictrum lucidum (shining meadow rue)

extended period, starting mid-August

Dracocephalum moldavicum (Moldavian dragonhead)

late August

Allium aflatunense (Persian onion)
Asclepias curassavica (tropical milkweed; bloodflower)
Baptisia pendula (white false indigo)
Callirhoe involucrata (poppy mallow; winecups)
Digitalis grandiflora (yellow foxglove)
Helichrysum bracteatum (strawflower)
Kolkwitzia amabilis 'Pink Cloud' (beautybush)
Lysimachia minoricensis
Melampodium paludosum 'Million Gold' (gold medallion flower; African zinnia)
Phlox divaricata (wild blue phlox)
Sida elliottii (Elliott's fanpetals)
Silphium perfoliatum (cup plant)
Verbascum thapsiforme (woolly mullein)

early September

Cardiospermum halicacabum (balloon vine, love in a puff)
Cassia marilandica (American senna)
Eryngium bourgatii (Pyrenees sea holly)
Eryngium yuccifolium (rattlesnake master)
Penstemon x mexicali 'Red Rocks' (beardtongue)

mid-September

Desmodium canadense (showy tick trefoil)
Dianthus amurensis 'Siberian Blues' (Amur pink)
Geum ponticum (avens)
Hibiscus moscheutos (hardy hibiscus; swamp rose-mallow)
Lychnis x arkwrightii 'Vesuvius' (Arkwright's campion)
Prunella laciniata (cutleaf self-heal)
Thalictrum dasycarpum (purple meadow rue)

extended period, starting mid-September

Clematis integrifolia

late September

Allium sphaerocephalon (drumstick allium)
Amsonia tabernaemontana (blue stars)
Asclepias tuberosa (butterfly weed)
Astilboides tabularis
Ceratotheca triloba (African foxglove)
Dahlia 'Jazz'
Dalea purpurea (purple prairie clover)
Gentiana dahurica (gentian)
Gillenia trifoliata (bowman's root, indian physic)
Hemerocallis middendorffii (Amur daylily)
Iris domestica (blackberry lily)
Iris sibirica (Siberian iris)
Penstemon cobaea (showy beard-tongue)
Platycodon grandiflorus (balloonflower)
Polemonium foliosissimum flavum (towering Jacob's ladder)
Ratibida columnifera (prairie coneflower; Mexican hat)
Ratibida pinnata (drooping or grey-head prairie coneflower)
Sanguisorba hakusanensis (Korean burnet)
Sedum aizoon (stonecrop)
Stachys minor (little betony)
Stachys monnieri 'Hummelo' (alpine betony)
Teucrium hircanicum (germander)
Tithonia rotundifolia (Mexican sunflower)
Veronicastrum virginicum (culver's root)

extended period, starting late September

Dicranostigma leptopodum (yellow poppy)

early October

Allium humile
Amsonia illustris (Ozark blue star; shining blue star)
Arisaema triphyllum (jack in the pulpit)
Chasmanthium latifolium (sea oats)
Cryptotaenia japonica 'Atropurpurea' (Japanese parsley)
Desmanthus illinoensis (bundleflower; prairie mimosa)
Dianthus japonicus
Eupatorium maculatum 'Purple bush' (spotted Joe-Pye weed)
Gentiana asclepiadea 'Alba' (willow-leaf gentian)
Hypericum androsaemum 'Albury Purple' (purple St John's wort)
Hypericum frondosum 'Sunburst' (golden St John's wort)
Ipomoea hederacea (ivy-leaf morning glory)
Ipomoea sloteri (cardinal climber)
Isodon excisus
Liatris ligulistylis (meadow blazing star)
Liatris spicata (blazing star; gayfeather)
Mimulus alatus (monkeyflower)
Nepeta subsessilis 'Sweet Dream' (catmint)
Pennisetum orientale 'Karly Rose' (fountain grass)
Perilla frutescens (shiso, beafsteak mint)
Physocarpus opulifolius (ninebark)
Polygonatum biflorum (Solomon's seal)
Rudbeckia maxima (giant coneflower)
Salvia glutinosa (Jupiter's distaff)
Sporobolus heterolepis (prairie dropseed)
Thymophylla tenuiloba (Dahlberg daisy)
Tinantia erecta (widow's tears)
Trichostema dichotomum (blue curls)
Veronica longifolia 'Blauriesin' (long-leaf speedwell)
Xanthisma texana (sleepy daisy)

mid-October

Amaranthus gangeticus (elephant head amaranth)
Caryopteris divaricata (bluebeard)
Chaenomeles 'Toyo Nishiki' (flowering quince)
Codonopsis lanceolata (bonnet bellflower)
Geranium wallichianum 'Buxtons Blue' (cranesbill)
Ipomoea coccinea (scarlet creeper; red morning glory)
Peltoboykinia watanabei
Proboscidea louisianica (ram's horn, unicorn plant, devil's claw)
Pycnanthemum tenuifolium (slender mountain mint)
Pycnanthemum virginianum (Virginia mountain mint)
Rudbeckia triloba (brown-eyed susan)
Salvia greggii 'Furman's Red' (autumn sage)
Salvia roemeriana (cedar sage)
Solanum surratense
Sorghastrum nutans (Indian grass)
Styrax japonicus (Japanese snowbell)
Syneilesis palmata (palmate umbrella plant)
Talinum paniculatum (jewels of Opar)
Thalictrum delavayi (Yunnan meadow rue)
Thalictrum rochebrunianum (lavender mist meadow rue)
Verbesina alternifolia (wingstem)
Vitex negundo (chastetree)

late October

Agastache scrophulariaefolia (purple giant hyssop)
Cornus amomum (silky dogwood)
Cornus florida (flowering dogwood)
Echinacea pallida (pale purple coneflower)
Echinacea purpurea (purple coneflower)
Echinacea tennesseensis (Tennessee coneflower)
Eryngium leavenworthii (Leavenworth eryngo)
Euphorbia corollata (flowering spurge; poison spurge)
Heliopsis helianthoides (false sunflower)
Heuchera villosa 'Autumn Bride' (hairy alum root)
Hyssopus officinalis (hyssop)
Indigofera heterantha (indigo shrub)
Kitaibela vitifolia
Knautia macedonica (burgundy pincushion)
Koelreuteria paniculata (golden rain tree)
Lespedeza thunbergii (bush clover)
Penstemon canescens (gray beard-tongue)
Solanum pyracanthos (porcupine tomato)
Tricyrtis macropoda (pagoda toad lily)
Tropaeolum majus (nasturtium)
Viola sororia f. priceana (confederate violet)

early November

Amsonia hubrichtii
Capsicum annuum (ornamental peppers)
Caryopteris x clandonensis (bluebeard, blue mist spirea)
Lagerstroemia indica (crape myrtle)
Polygonum virginianum 'Painter's palette' (painter's palette)
Pycnanthemum incanum (hoary mountain mint)
Ruellia humilis (hairy wild petunia)
Scilla autumnalis (autumn squill)
Selinum wallichianum
Solidago canadensis (Canada goldenrod)
Symphyotrichum sp.
Verbena bonariensis (purple-top vervain)
Vernonia noveboracensis (New York ironweed)

mid-November

Calamagrostis brachytricha (Korean feather grass)
Daphne retusa
Lilium formosanum (formosa lily)

late November

Indigofera amblyantha (pinkflower indigo)

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Last modified: November 16, 2006
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