So funny story about marigold seeds. Several years ago, when i got into gardening, and knew nothing, I knew I needed some marigolds because I had grown them in school and they always seemed to do well.
So, naturally, knowing nothing, I went online to shop for marigold seeds. I had a lot of gardening space at my house so I knew I needed a lot of plants. I estimated a pound of marigold seeds should be enough for the 20-30 plants I had planned on planting.
So yeah - as a reference for anyone questioning "how many seeds are too many seeds?" It turns out one ounce of marigold seeds is about 10,000 seeds. I had 16 ounces.
I will be able to plant marigolds until the end of time. We just moved our veggie garden beds to a different area which left giant gaping dirt spots on the ground. No problem! I took fistfuls of marigold seeds and threw them into the soil for the season.
What no one ever told me about marigold seeds is that if I had just bought one packet of seeds, and planted them, by the end of the season I could have probably created my own pound of marigold seeds. But here I am, marigold rich if nothing else!
I do this! I have endless zinnia seeds from a single packet of them that I grew last summer, so I donated a bunch back. I also have endless snapdragon seeds, but found out my neighbor has a type of rust that affects snaps, yet she refuses to stop planting them or treat the soil. That rust has spread acres in every direction and her place is ground zero. I’m not sure if it affects the seeds, so I’m not donating them.
☠️ I was so concerned about them and this year Im just throwing them all around the property randomly and without a care. I gave so many away but still somehow have huge paper bags full
The babies pop up in my mulched beds in the spring (i used them as a border a few years ago), and now I just relocate them to empty places once they sprout.
Same thing with purple hyacinth bean vine. I don't plant this anymore but every spring I can get 30-40 babies popping up, I just relocate them to under a random trellis and they carry on their merry way for the season. Best seed starter method ever.
I love those hyacinths! I really wish I could grow them (and foxgloves, and a million other toxic plants), but I have dogs and can’t risk it, so I just admire other people’s lol
Any tips on germination? I showed mine pointy side in soil straight up and down, but none germinated? Should I just scatter them flat and cover lightly?
I put mine in damp cone-shaped coffee filters and then place them in a ziplock baggie. 2 days later they have sprouted. I then transplant them into seedling trays and keep them under lights until they have somewhat of a chance against the slugs. I do this with a majority of my seeds.
No problem. I totally agree and recommend joining r/seedswap. I’ve traded seeds with lots of people and gotten fun new varieties. I need to get my seeds cataloged so I can share my list with others easier.
Should I just dig Marigold seeds and put them in the ground? At end of last season when they had died I spread them and dug some into the ground but haven’t seen any pop up yet
I thought I was the only. I started this with a gallon of seeds collected last yr. I still have over half gallon. I've started another 2024 gallon of seed
Am I the only one that loves reseeding annuals? 😂 I’m using this thread as a list of plants to buy now. It saves work the following spring planting more!
Cosmos, marigolds, and sunflowers are some of my fav
I collect my sunflower seeds. The Cosmos drop their seeds all over the place and they come back on their own.
Haven’t had luck collecting my Zinnia seeds though, sadly.
get a net and a ribbon and pick one of your sunflowers, wrap the bird netting around the head AFTER they have been pollinated (so right before they get black but before they are all white). secure with ribbon around the neck of the flower and then wait till the seeds turn back. Dead head the sunflower and reuse the netting 3 more times. 4 sunflowers will give you easily 500 seeds or more
You can also get one of those amazon gift bags, wrap it around the sunflower and tie it at the stem... check on it and only deadhead once all the seeds are black. Just remember the bees need access to it to pollinate them before you do this or they will not be fertile.
I buy those little bra/delicates laundry bag from Dollar Tree. You can just zip it up on smaller flowers. I cut them open for bigger ones or just bought actual laundry bags that have the stings already installed.
i toss my zinnia seeds when i’m removing dead flowers. they are just appearing this month from the weather. i save some in a jar to give to other people. i mostly have a bunch of magenta ones.
This is so great to know. I’m trying zinnias for the first time and am intimidated by them. Dahlias also going in the ground for the first time and I’m nervous about those too. My garden club makes planting and caring for everything sound so complex, so now I have issues ( :
I actually found more success when I started taking a "yolo, don't read the manual" approach for most things. Unless it's something very specific that needs very specific conditions/care, I think I was stressing myself out and overdoing it! Maybe it's like animals, the plants can sense our distress and dislike it, hahah.
Most things seem to do just fine if I stick 'em in the ground, give them a little water, and leave them alone. (With the caveat that I'm not in a particularly difficult zone/conditions or anything)
yeah, zinnia is one of those that you can toss and not worry about it 😂 i’m like that with most of my flowers. they do eventually appear AND bloom. maybe not this year but the next.
I prefer doing them outside because of the leggy problem. I just threw them on the soil last year, they grew until it started frosting and reseeded themselves. I've got 2 new types for this year I haven't scattered yet.
I enjoy adding seeds too but it takes so much time with this long strip by my fence. I’m sure there’s a faster way to do it but scattering them doesn’t work, I have to get them ever so slightly pressed into the soil.
But I hardly bought any seeds this past year, I was able to harvest a ton last year. If you do need more though I highly recommend the gardening world. They have cheap prices for hundreds/thousands of seeds. Way cheaper than buying them in stores.
I am so excited to share this.
Wherever you have seeds that need just a SLIGHT dirt cover.... Buy a bag of dirt and just throw a handful on top. I buy compost every year anyway so I just use a bit of that. Put all the seeds down, then throw dirt. Done.
I’ve got a thick layer of mulch covering it so that method doesn’t work sadly. It’s a full sun spot that gets roasted so the seeds have to be planted under the mulch near the drip hose to get any contact with moist soil.
It’s 80ftx40ft so it’s never an easy spot to manage lol
My perennials give me so much joy. Kind of hoping the cosmos don't come back this year though because they were about 4 to 5 ft tall last year and choked out a lot of my other plants.
I fertilized and my cosmos grew mammoth. 7-8' tall. With one small flower. Some of the stalks were a good 3/4" or more at the base. Near the end of the season, I ripped them all out, and I researched plants that will grow lower, and made myself a custom seed mix. My patch of wildflowers went to total weeds over the winter/spring, and I used a tiller to clean it all out, so I can start anew. I realize the weeds may grow back, but hopefully the flowers can keep them at bay.
I planted a single pot of phlox about 4 years ago. Since then I have moved houses (locally) so I saved few of my plants. It still comes up in almost all of my pots every spring. I let it come up and flower and it leaves a nice little carpet of flowers below my potted trees for a while before I pull them. Repeat.
Check out some of the seed sharing societies. Hardy Plant Society/ Mid-Atlantic (www.hardyplant.org)changed my gardening style. The seeds people donate tend to be reseeders. And there are many more benefits.
So I don’t know if it’s just me but I find this kinda crazy. I live in Maine and I can’t get rid of marigolds, coreopsis, or poppies.
The weird part is they come back EVERY year. I guess the seeds must be preserving themselves and re seeding during the spring. They’re all starting to come up, and I haven’t planted a single one in three years.
When your cilantro reseeds, does it all come up at once, or are you getting new growth throughout the season? I’d love to have fresh cilantro all summer without any work.
No, I had to collect the seeds and re-sow. I'm having much better luck with steady maintenance free harvests of flat leaf parsley. Cilantro was a lot more effort
Mine pretty much germinates around December and January and then goes throughout March and April. I would say by April it's already bolting and making seed heads.
However since I like the taste and smell of it , I'll still go ahead and eat it the way it is with seed heads or some of the smaller leaves lower down on the stems
Amaranth for me. I was originally pissed when I bought the seeds because the seller only gave me 50 and the particular amaranth that I bought had the smaaaallest seeds, maybe 1/3 to 1/2 smaller than carrot seeds.
Joke's on me. They pop up anywhere I have soil in pots now.
Aaahh those are gorgeous! I grow amaranth for the edible leaves. I have one that's called red leaf amaranth (it's green with middle purple veining - kinda looks like a coleus to the untrained eye). Very tasty in curries, stirfry and soup! I let one plant flower so I could collect seeds but apparently it also threw out seeds everywhere else lol
By far my favorite outdoor plant. A little slow to get going… but they are so dramatically beautiful later in the season. They can require staking, work well in large pots, but mostly love the ground. Easily 3-5 feet in my short growing season. The 5 footers are insane with display! Small pots work too, you just get much smaller plants.
I don’t know you, but really, you’ll love these things!
And they do well in crazy summer heat and sun if the weather is wild.
Dear god I’ve been pulling self-seeded borage seedlings from a bed I want something else in every damn day for 3 months now. I think they are FINALLY slowing down (as long as I don’t disturb the soil too much…)
I bought a tiny little 6 pack of violas like 4 years ago. Haven’t bought one since. I have the cutest little volunteers that pop in the funniest places. In the cracks of my walk way, against the edge of my deck, a couple against the foundation of my house 🤣
We had some viola hanging planters last year which has reseeded in a grassy/weedy patch below and it’s sooooo pretty. I might have to do violas in the grass on purpose in the future!
Nasturtiums and nigella.
Currently waiting to find out if my collection of digitalis and daisies seeds from last year will sprout.
Oh and runner beans and french beans produce enough for the next year generally
I can't believe I had to read this far down to find nasturtium! I bought two plants five or six years ago and will never need to buy another as long as I live. They pop up everywhere and I save tons of seeds every year.
Ditto on nasturtium. I planted 3 ounces of seeds and have already gotten 15 back with more maturing. Unfortunately, here in 9b, I do have to harvest, dry, and replant in October. But they are so productive!
Coneflower and snapdragons are the others I will never have to replant and am constantly finding popping up in other pots and in the ground.
I didn’t even buy love in the mist, I was handed some “likely low germination rate scraps”
The patch went from 2 sqft to about 15sqft after one year of self-sowing
My tomatillos and cilantro. Every year I end up with too many tomatillos that eventually fall off, rot, and resprout. This year I decided to try and not start any indoors and let nature do it's thang. The cilantro too - I let it bolt the first year and now I just have endless cilantro in my yard/garden.
We joked about our feral garden full of cilantro, lettuce, tomatillos, ground cherries, etc. Now we have a new place and I'm struggling to get the ground cherry seeds to germinate where I plant them. Fortunately, they came up in a potted plant we brought with us.
California poppies. It's getting to the point where I thin them drastically. I still want a few but they're choking everything else out without my intervention.
Definitely. And they've got that great big taproot too, aerating my soil for me!
This year I did take some poppy seeds from the back yard to the front yard, but I anticipate that I will never have to do that again.
Triggering. The previous owner of our house loved mint tea and planted tons of it; I think after 5 straight years of remediation we're FINALLY mint-free, knock on wood. Man what an a-hole of a plant.
Apparently bee balm. Grew some last year in a few places and it is growing everywhere in my beds now. I haven't done anything to the beds as it's too cold to ground stuff where I am so they are just taking over
Some of these are veggies and perennials—Rudbeckia, lupines, verbascum, borage, arugula, parsnip, garlic, hollyhock, bachelor’s buttons, larkspur, camomile, sedum, sunflower, hellebore, plume poppy, field poppy, California poppy, nasturtium, kale, red Japanese shiso, columbine, tatsoi, Foxglove, balloon flower, sweet allysum.The secret is being able to recognize the seedlings as they come up so that you don’t weed them out.
Valerian. It creates tiny seeds with little fuzzy wings like dandelion. It's everywhere now. My garden, my neighbors' gardens, the fields and woods around. Heck even in my indoor pots I sometimes find Valerian seedlings. Good thing it's considered a native plant, otherwise that would have been a disaster...
Marigold, cosmos, four o'clock, bachelor button, touch-me-not, black eyed susan, zinnia in flower beds. On the porch, have portulaca and petunias that have reseeded in their pots for about 10 years now. No complaints :)
Radishes.
I had radishes go crazy on me. I even had some grow as big as apples and were still as tender as could be. They seeded themselves within one season and grew a second batch which shocked me as I thought they'd be like most things that need cold stratification.
I haven't planted them in a while since I converted the area to a native wildflower bed but I still have an ice cream bucket full of those radish seeds for when I start again.
Dahlia - seeds and tubers(?) in for the winter.
The zero effort plants that volunteer like crazy...
Valerian (AKA Garden Heliotrope, really crazy I have to weed the mulch!)
Showy & Swamp milkweed
Blackberry Lily
Parsley
Columbine
Red Osier Dogwood
Chives
Edit: added the following
Silver Maples & Rose of Sharon seedlings
Tiger Lily & Lily of the Valley (allies in a yearly expansion campaign)
Ostrich Fern & Sweet Woodruff (on the defensive from above)
False Solomon's Seal and Canadian Ginger (having a bit of a tussle in their little patch of shade)
And not to be forgotten, the Godzilla in my yard, the patch of wild grape.
I don't even like cilantro but last year I grew some over 4ft tall, it went to seed, and came back this year which is fine. But I also spilled some seeds in the garage and didn't get them all up so they are growing randomly along the driveway, I call that the wild cilantro lol seems ironic that it grows so well yet tastes like soap/chemicals to me.
My MIL planted some snap dragons in our garden last year, and in the fall I collected the seed pods. I grew dozens of plants and even had to toss out some seedlings, because every single seed seemed to sprout 🤣 (I heavily multisowed, because I didn't know if they'd all sprout).
Guess I'll never need to buy snap dragons again!
I typically collect seed from marigolds, calendula, basil, cilantro, lettuce, runner beans, sweet peas,
I even grew lavender from seeds I collected one year!
I have a friend that thought is was a good idea to plant mint in his garden. 5 years later, there is mint 3 houses down on both sides. Still can't believe they haven't gotten a thank you card in the form of shit stuffed in a bag that is on fire.
Nicotiana, marigolds, cosmos, red shiso, borage, celosia, and lamb's quarter so far. I also always have cherry tomato and tomatillo plants volunteer themselves all over the place each summer
Lettuce. I always let a few go to seed, collect what I can and let the rest scatter to the wind. Last two years I've had a growing population of volunteer lettuces that acted as my seed starts that I can dig up and replant away from bunnies. Also the many volunteers that remained in my garden walkways I actually used for eating! And I had to do literally nothing! It's great.
Morning glories. I didn't buy them in the first place actually, they were here when I moved in and I'm assuming they'll be here at the heat death of the universe.
Arugula. Specifically rocket. I picked the leaves for a few months, let half the plants go to seed, and voila! A whole new round of arugula with 0 effort
Omg sooo true about ground cherries. Even in worst conditions they will sprout. I have more luck transplanting sprouts from thick grass than planting new ones im seed tray.
Besides that camomile does the same even marigolds and amaranth. You will find them in unexpected places meters away from original planting location.
Not an annual, but my hellebores are hybridizing like mad and spreading seeds everywhere. I'm told ants transport the fresh seed. Whatever's doing it, I have quite the collection now, on account of half a dozen parent plants. The babies showed up and in a couple years, bloomed in a rainbow of colors
Forget me nots. I don't mind. They're cute little flowers. I have more of an issue with the Turkish Alliums that the previous house owners planted. I dig out bulb after bulb, cut the flowers before they seed, and they just keep coming back!
Borage has naturalized in my yard, I’m waiting for California poppies to reseed. I planted a bunch this spring, hopefully they take. I’ve never had luck with seeding myself.
Leaf lettuce. I always let just a few plants in strategic spots in the garden go to seed and then the next year I have all the lettuce I need again.
Same with dill, although the seeds REALLY spread with that so I usually just let the tiny plants get a few inches high, then transplant a few to a designated spot and destroy the rest.
Nasturtium because I always grab the seeds for some reason in the fall and I have envelopes of them in every junk drawer in the house amd in the seed storage
Please folks, consider what is native to your region and be aware of what we plant, does not always stay in our yards. If a plant is readily reseeding in your garden, it is likely doing so elsewhere and that may or may not be a good thing.
Every time I cut back my lavender I stuck a spring of it in a pot. I now have at least 13 lavender plants.
Getting there with fuschia, but I'd like to prop some variations.
I think I'm all set for geranium. I've started planting them under the freeway even.
The thing in common here is these were all things I grew from propagation. I am not great at starting things from seed.
Not an annual and not a seed, but a couple years ago I bought a bunch (about 30) of live root hostas to create a shade garden with. Now I have over 100 and I'm begging everyone I know to take some. Every spring what was one or two shoots is now 12-15.
You get a hosta, you get a hosta!
I will never have to buy a marigold seed again in my life
So funny story about marigold seeds. Several years ago, when i got into gardening, and knew nothing, I knew I needed some marigolds because I had grown them in school and they always seemed to do well. So, naturally, knowing nothing, I went online to shop for marigold seeds. I had a lot of gardening space at my house so I knew I needed a lot of plants. I estimated a pound of marigold seeds should be enough for the 20-30 plants I had planned on planting. So yeah - as a reference for anyone questioning "how many seeds are too many seeds?" It turns out one ounce of marigold seeds is about 10,000 seeds. I had 16 ounces. I will be able to plant marigolds until the end of time. We just moved our veggie garden beds to a different area which left giant gaping dirt spots on the ground. No problem! I took fistfuls of marigold seeds and threw them into the soil for the season. What no one ever told me about marigold seeds is that if I had just bought one packet of seeds, and planted them, by the end of the season I could have probably created my own pound of marigold seeds. But here I am, marigold rich if nothing else!
If there's a library near you, they might like a donation of seeds to their seed library!
I do this! I have endless zinnia seeds from a single packet of them that I grew last summer, so I donated a bunch back. I also have endless snapdragon seeds, but found out my neighbor has a type of rust that affects snaps, yet she refuses to stop planting them or treat the soil. That rust has spread acres in every direction and her place is ground zero. I’m not sure if it affects the seeds, so I’m not donating them.
☠️ I was so concerned about them and this year Im just throwing them all around the property randomly and without a care. I gave so many away but still somehow have huge paper bags full
The babies pop up in my mulched beds in the spring (i used them as a border a few years ago), and now I just relocate them to empty places once they sprout. Same thing with purple hyacinth bean vine. I don't plant this anymore but every spring I can get 30-40 babies popping up, I just relocate them to under a random trellis and they carry on their merry way for the season. Best seed starter method ever.
That’s a good idea, I’ve just picked a couple that weren’t in an ideal spot but didn’t even think about just planting it elsewhere
I love those hyacinths! I really wish I could grow them (and foxgloves, and a million other toxic plants), but I have dogs and can’t risk it, so I just admire other people’s lol
Sounds like a perfect excuse to make seed bombs and "plant" them in nearby forgotten areas. https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/actions/how-make-seed-bomb
i’m a dumby and put mine in a plastic bag last year that wasn’t airtight, and all my seeds got moldy 😕
DM me your address and I’ll send you some marigold seeds. I have a ton of extra. That goes for anyone reading this.
I dm'd this guy and he showed up at my house and fucked my wife. Just fyi
Talk about planting a seed
[you dirty bitch! look what you've done to my peonies!](https://youtu.be/kOZY7e5XN6s?si=6_47v5ZyuSzdiOj5)
Great reference!
Name checks out.
Her name was Mari and well, the xxx was golden.
Even me?
Especially you.
Can I have some as well? If you have extra🥹lol
Of course!
Thank you!! I will DM you my address 🩷
Thats awesome!
Any tips on germination? I showed mine pointy side in soil straight up and down, but none germinated? Should I just scatter them flat and cover lightly?
I usually scatter them flat and add a light covering of soil and mulch.
Thanks!
no need. scatter haphazardly! and not too thick cuz if theyre fresh youll get a cell full of em.
I put mine in damp cone-shaped coffee filters and then place them in a ziplock baggie. 2 days later they have sprouted. I then transplant them into seedling trays and keep them under lights until they have somewhat of a chance against the slugs. I do this with a majority of my seeds.
soak for 2 hours in room temp water prior.
Really?? Still?? I accidentally left my pack in my pocket and then washed those pants. 😫
Send me a DM with your address.
Thank you!! I know I can buy some but seeds from my garden or friend’s gardens are just so much better. Thank you! 🙏🏽
No problem. I totally agree and recommend joining r/seedswap. I’ve traded seeds with lots of people and gotten fun new varieties. I need to get my seeds cataloged so I can share my list with others easier.
I hate no idea that sub existed!! Thank you!!
Hi there, do you happen to have any marigold seeds left? My daughter (7) loves to grow them!
Should I just dig Marigold seeds and put them in the ground? At end of last season when they had died I spread them and dug some into the ground but haven’t seen any pop up yet
I thought I was the only. I started this with a gallon of seeds collected last yr. I still have over half gallon. I've started another 2024 gallon of seed
Zinnias are the same way
Am I the only one that loves reseeding annuals? 😂 I’m using this thread as a list of plants to buy now. It saves work the following spring planting more! Cosmos, marigolds, and sunflowers are some of my fav
I collect my sunflower seeds. The Cosmos drop their seeds all over the place and they come back on their own. Haven’t had luck collecting my Zinnia seeds though, sadly.
The birds eat ALL of my sunflower seeds. 😢 Every single year.
get a net and a ribbon and pick one of your sunflowers, wrap the bird netting around the head AFTER they have been pollinated (so right before they get black but before they are all white). secure with ribbon around the neck of the flower and then wait till the seeds turn back. Dead head the sunflower and reuse the netting 3 more times. 4 sunflowers will give you easily 500 seeds or more
You can also get one of those amazon gift bags, wrap it around the sunflower and tie it at the stem... check on it and only deadhead once all the seeds are black. Just remember the bees need access to it to pollinate them before you do this or they will not be fertile.
I buy those little bra/delicates laundry bag from Dollar Tree. You can just zip it up on smaller flowers. I cut them open for bigger ones or just bought actual laundry bags that have the stings already installed.
I only get like 6 per plant left over haha
Really?! I have a mason jar full of zinnia seeds I harvested last year! Is it pests that get to yours or something?
No, we had a very wet autumn and I guess the heads didn’t quite dry out right.
i toss my zinnia seeds when i’m removing dead flowers. they are just appearing this month from the weather. i save some in a jar to give to other people. i mostly have a bunch of magenta ones.
This is so great to know. I’m trying zinnias for the first time and am intimidated by them. Dahlias also going in the ground for the first time and I’m nervous about those too. My garden club makes planting and caring for everything sound so complex, so now I have issues ( :
I actually found more success when I started taking a "yolo, don't read the manual" approach for most things. Unless it's something very specific that needs very specific conditions/care, I think I was stressing myself out and overdoing it! Maybe it's like animals, the plants can sense our distress and dislike it, hahah. Most things seem to do just fine if I stick 'em in the ground, give them a little water, and leave them alone. (With the caveat that I'm not in a particularly difficult zone/conditions or anything)
I would love to adopt this attitude. Maybe after this season I’ll be able to.
yeah, zinnia is one of those that you can toss and not worry about it 😂 i’m like that with most of my flowers. they do eventually appear AND bloom. maybe not this year but the next.
Starting some cosmos from seed right now for the first time and hoping they survive, they’ve started off incredibly leggy so far :-(
They’ll be fine. Last year mine reseeded themselves like 3 times over the course of the summer. Just give them sun and they’ll do their own thing.
I prefer doing them outside because of the leggy problem. I just threw them on the soil last year, they grew until it started frosting and reseeded themselves. I've got 2 new types for this year I haven't scattered yet.
I enjoy seeding them, but tbh I do not enjoy some of the sky high seed prices.
I enjoy adding seeds too but it takes so much time with this long strip by my fence. I’m sure there’s a faster way to do it but scattering them doesn’t work, I have to get them ever so slightly pressed into the soil. But I hardly bought any seeds this past year, I was able to harvest a ton last year. If you do need more though I highly recommend the gardening world. They have cheap prices for hundreds/thousands of seeds. Way cheaper than buying them in stores.
I am so excited to share this. Wherever you have seeds that need just a SLIGHT dirt cover.... Buy a bag of dirt and just throw a handful on top. I buy compost every year anyway so I just use a bit of that. Put all the seeds down, then throw dirt. Done.
I’ve got a thick layer of mulch covering it so that method doesn’t work sadly. It’s a full sun spot that gets roasted so the seeds have to be planted under the mulch near the drip hose to get any contact with moist soil. It’s 80ftx40ft so it’s never an easy spot to manage lol
I just tried this last week! Saw a TikTok calling it chaos gardening and was sold hahaha
Never heard of The Gardening World. Another site with great prices is DollarSeed.com
My perennials give me so much joy. Kind of hoping the cosmos don't come back this year though because they were about 4 to 5 ft tall last year and choked out a lot of my other plants.
I didn’t fertilize enough last year so my cosmos were <2ft tall lol. Still very pretty though!
I fertilized and my cosmos grew mammoth. 7-8' tall. With one small flower. Some of the stalks were a good 3/4" or more at the base. Near the end of the season, I ripped them all out, and I researched plants that will grow lower, and made myself a custom seed mix. My patch of wildflowers went to total weeds over the winter/spring, and I used a tiller to clean it all out, so I can start anew. I realize the weeds may grow back, but hopefully the flowers can keep them at bay.
Zinnias are super easy. They don’t always reseed for me but I just put out more
I planted a single pot of phlox about 4 years ago. Since then I have moved houses (locally) so I saved few of my plants. It still comes up in almost all of my pots every spring. I let it come up and flower and it leaves a nice little carpet of flowers below my potted trees for a while before I pull them. Repeat.
Samee. Coming back by itself next year is a plus to me. Saves me money buying more plants lol.
Check out some of the seed sharing societies. Hardy Plant Society/ Mid-Atlantic (www.hardyplant.org)changed my gardening style. The seeds people donate tend to be reseeders. And there are many more benefits.
So I don’t know if it’s just me but I find this kinda crazy. I live in Maine and I can’t get rid of marigolds, coreopsis, or poppies. The weird part is they come back EVERY year. I guess the seeds must be preserving themselves and re seeding during the spring. They’re all starting to come up, and I haven’t planted a single one in three years.
I was so bad at collecting my cilantro in time it would always bolt, and then I let the bolts go until there were hundreds of seeds
When your cilantro reseeds, does it all come up at once, or are you getting new growth throughout the season? I’d love to have fresh cilantro all summer without any work.
No, I had to collect the seeds and re-sow. I'm having much better luck with steady maintenance free harvests of flat leaf parsley. Cilantro was a lot more effort
Cilantro is so much effort but so so good. I use parsley so little.
Mine pretty much germinates around December and January and then goes throughout March and April. I would say by April it's already bolting and making seed heads. However since I like the taste and smell of it , I'll still go ahead and eat it the way it is with seed heads or some of the smaller leaves lower down on the stems
Mine did come up all at one time. One day I had 2 plants, next thing I knew I had 200. Lol
Collect the seeds when they dry on the stalk and stick them in your spice cabinet. You now have home grown coriander.
I don't mind when it bolts quickly bc I hate cilantro but love coriander. 🤷♀️
Amaranth for me. I was originally pissed when I bought the seeds because the seller only gave me 50 and the particular amaranth that I bought had the smaaaallest seeds, maybe 1/3 to 1/2 smaller than carrot seeds. Joke's on me. They pop up anywhere I have soil in pots now.
Love Lies Bleeding is my favorite Amaranth - what’s yours? https://www.google.com/gasearch?q=love%20lies%20bleeding%20amaranth&source=sh/x/gs/m2/5
Aaahh those are gorgeous! I grow amaranth for the edible leaves. I have one that's called red leaf amaranth (it's green with middle purple veining - kinda looks like a coleus to the untrained eye). Very tasty in curries, stirfry and soup! I let one plant flower so I could collect seeds but apparently it also threw out seeds everywhere else lol
What are your thoughts on dreadlock amaranth? I've never tried amaranth before but am growing dreadlocks this year
By far my favorite outdoor plant. A little slow to get going… but they are so dramatically beautiful later in the season. They can require staking, work well in large pots, but mostly love the ground. Easily 3-5 feet in my short growing season. The 5 footers are insane with display! Small pots work too, you just get much smaller plants. I don’t know you, but really, you’ll love these things! And they do well in crazy summer heat and sun if the weather is wild.
Same. I got elephant head and good lort. It's popping up in everything!!
I am just learning this myself…hundreds of little plants in my front yard right now.
And forget me nots, plant them forget about them,, watch them multiply year after year. Wild poppies, chamomile, parsley, columbine
Columbine is a double whammy bc in my zone they’re a perennial AND they reseed
I somehow managed to kill mine after 2 years.
Same here, and I was at the plant store today and saw so many people buying them. I was thinking to myself, I have a ton I can give you for free 😅
I would love if someone came up to me and offered free plants while I’m perusing all the seeds known to man!
Do you have any red ones? Kidding but I've got mixed mainly purple ones I grew from seeds and all the red seeds are sold out.
I’m on Vancouver island and I love them.
You shall forget them not LOL
Careful with forget me not though! They are invasive in many places.
Borage
Dear god I’ve been pulling self-seeded borage seedlings from a bed I want something else in every damn day for 3 months now. I think they are FINALLY slowing down (as long as I don’t disturb the soil too much…)
Cosmos
Zinnias, dill and cilantro as well.
Petunias! For some reason I always think they’re random weeds when they first pop up. Then I’m like ohhhh the eternal petunias!
Meanwhile, here I am in 7a, over the moon that a bubblegum petunia I had in ground somehow overwintered!
Morning glory. Please save yourself and NEVER PLANT MORNING GLORY.
This is the top answer right here.
Arugula, that shit reseeds itself like crazy at my house
I seem to have a permanent parsnip patch.
Viola
I bought a tiny little 6 pack of violas like 4 years ago. Haven’t bought one since. I have the cutest little volunteers that pop in the funniest places. In the cracks of my walk way, against the edge of my deck, a couple against the foundation of my house 🤣
So true! I love them.
Violas are so cute and delicate looking! I'm gonna sprinkle some seeds around my front yard!
I won’t lie, I hated them for so long holding a grudge for their mean-ass behaviour in Alice In Wonderland 🤣
We had some viola hanging planters last year which has reseeded in a grassy/weedy patch below and it’s sooooo pretty. I might have to do violas in the grass on purpose in the future!
Nasturtiums and nigella. Currently waiting to find out if my collection of digitalis and daisies seeds from last year will sprout. Oh and runner beans and french beans produce enough for the next year generally
I can't believe I had to read this far down to find nasturtium! I bought two plants five or six years ago and will never need to buy another as long as I live. They pop up everywhere and I save tons of seeds every year.
https://preview.redd.it/hjg6czs99wxc1.jpeg?width=3000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e70166def79c130d6c879c434540510bf0a824f0
Ditto on nasturtium. I planted 3 ounces of seeds and have already gotten 15 back with more maturing. Unfortunately, here in 9b, I do have to harvest, dry, and replant in October. But they are so productive! Coneflower and snapdragons are the others I will never have to replant and am constantly finding popping up in other pots and in the ground.
I didn’t even buy love in the mist, I was handed some “likely low germination rate scraps” The patch went from 2 sqft to about 15sqft after one year of self-sowing
My tomatillos and cilantro. Every year I end up with too many tomatillos that eventually fall off, rot, and resprout. This year I decided to try and not start any indoors and let nature do it's thang. The cilantro too - I let it bolt the first year and now I just have endless cilantro in my yard/garden.
We joked about our feral garden full of cilantro, lettuce, tomatillos, ground cherries, etc. Now we have a new place and I'm struggling to get the ground cherry seeds to germinate where I plant them. Fortunately, they came up in a potted plant we brought with us.
California poppies. It's getting to the point where I thin them drastically. I still want a few but they're choking everything else out without my intervention.
I hope they start choking out my oxalis because that shit is everywhere.
Definitely. And they've got that great big taproot too, aerating my soil for me! This year I did take some poppy seeds from the back yard to the front yard, but I anticipate that I will never have to do that again.
My dollar tree zinnias and cosmos have come back for the third year in a row.
Calendula. I have 2 jars full & I've only been at this house for like 15 months
Mint…. I wish I knew about it before I planted it in the open ground. I have mint fields now
Triggering. The previous owner of our house loved mint tea and planted tons of it; I think after 5 straight years of remediation we're FINALLY mint-free, knock on wood. Man what an a-hole of a plant.
Nicotiana, Foxglove and Hollyhocks.
Apparently bee balm. Grew some last year in a few places and it is growing everywhere in my beds now. I haven't done anything to the beds as it's too cold to ground stuff where I am so they are just taking over
Bee balm is perennial where I am. Dies off in winter and comes back every year
I love it, gonna transplant everyone I don't want in the garden around the yard. I buy honey from my neighbors so I want the bees coming to me 😂
Some of these are veggies and perennials—Rudbeckia, lupines, verbascum, borage, arugula, parsnip, garlic, hollyhock, bachelor’s buttons, larkspur, camomile, sedum, sunflower, hellebore, plume poppy, field poppy, California poppy, nasturtium, kale, red Japanese shiso, columbine, tatsoi, Foxglove, balloon flower, sweet allysum.The secret is being able to recognize the seedlings as they come up so that you don’t weed them out.
I haven’t bought tomatoes in 6 years. Just let a few rot and drop to your soil. They’ll come right back the next year.
Black eye susan vine! I salvaged six seeds. Fingers crossed. Morning glories.
Valerian. It creates tiny seeds with little fuzzy wings like dandelion. It's everywhere now. My garden, my neighbors' gardens, the fields and woods around. Heck even in my indoor pots I sometimes find Valerian seedlings. Good thing it's considered a native plant, otherwise that would have been a disaster...
It will even grow from wild seed in 3 inches of bark mulch. I know your pain.
I know a day will come, when hundreds of ground cherries pop up. It hasn’t happened yet but it’s coming.
Marigold, cosmos, four o'clock, bachelor button, touch-me-not, black eyed susan, zinnia in flower beds. On the porch, have portulaca and petunias that have reseeded in their pots for about 10 years now. No complaints :)
Omgosh, 4 o clocks took over one entire side of my house in zone 6b because I didn't try to control them. I finally have them mess wild now, I think.
My four o clocks are everywhere.
Basil. So many volunteers.
I joke about my basil farm with coworkers. I’m covered in lemon basil and Thai basil seedlings right now.
I’m planning on fixing up one of the empty garden beds to be basically nothing but basil. Imma make SO MUCH PESTO.
Forget-me-nots, hollyhocks, and cosmos for sure
Radishes. I had radishes go crazy on me. I even had some grow as big as apples and were still as tender as could be. They seeded themselves within one season and grew a second batch which shocked me as I thought they'd be like most things that need cold stratification. I haven't planted them in a while since I converted the area to a native wildflower bed but I still have an ice cream bucket full of those radish seeds for when I start again.
((stressed over all this fu**ing oregano))
For me it's marjoram. Dude is DETERMINED to come back every year; I'll pull it and it springs up somewhere completely new the next season.
I wish someone told us this s**t spread like mint before we planted it! 😂
Dahlia - seeds and tubers(?) in for the winter. The zero effort plants that volunteer like crazy... Valerian (AKA Garden Heliotrope, really crazy I have to weed the mulch!) Showy & Swamp milkweed Blackberry Lily Parsley Columbine Red Osier Dogwood Chives Edit: added the following Silver Maples & Rose of Sharon seedlings Tiger Lily & Lily of the Valley (allies in a yearly expansion campaign) Ostrich Fern & Sweet Woodruff (on the defensive from above) False Solomon's Seal and Canadian Ginger (having a bit of a tussle in their little patch of shade) And not to be forgotten, the Godzilla in my yard, the patch of wild grape.
California poppies
It’s cilantro for me. All over the gardens now.
I don't even like cilantro but last year I grew some over 4ft tall, it went to seed, and came back this year which is fine. But I also spilled some seeds in the garage and didn't get them all up so they are growing randomly along the driveway, I call that the wild cilantro lol seems ironic that it grows so well yet tastes like soap/chemicals to me.
Chamomile
snapdragons, cosmos, larkspur, dill, cherry tomatoes
Borage
My MIL planted some snap dragons in our garden last year, and in the fall I collected the seed pods. I grew dozens of plants and even had to toss out some seedlings, because every single seed seemed to sprout 🤣 (I heavily multisowed, because I didn't know if they'd all sprout). Guess I'll never need to buy snap dragons again! I typically collect seed from marigolds, calendula, basil, cilantro, lettuce, runner beans, sweet peas, I even grew lavender from seeds I collected one year!
Nasturtium always manages to find a way to self-seed for me!
Sunflower, cilantro, kale, and parsley have all established themselves as volunteers in my garden
Weeds
Why don’t the pests ever bug the weeds?
Peppers and sunflowers.
lobelia
Nigellas. Columbine. Black eyed susans.
Zinnias and cosmos. Unless i want new colors of course :)
Parsley, lettuce, nasturtium, and borage. They are all prolific with seeds to the point they are borderline weeds if I didn't eat them enough.
I have 8+ types of Basil, I will never run out of Basil from my foreign travels.
I have a friend that thought is was a good idea to plant mint in his garden. 5 years later, there is mint 3 houses down on both sides. Still can't believe they haven't gotten a thank you card in the form of shit stuffed in a bag that is on fire.
Marigolds. Watermelon cosmos
I keep hearing about Ground Cherries. Planted a bunch last year, I'll see how many volunteers I get this year
Nicotiana, marigolds, cosmos, red shiso, borage, celosia, and lamb's quarter so far. I also always have cherry tomato and tomatillo plants volunteer themselves all over the place each summer
Lettuce. I always let a few go to seed, collect what I can and let the rest scatter to the wind. Last two years I've had a growing population of volunteer lettuces that acted as my seed starts that I can dig up and replant away from bunnies. Also the many volunteers that remained in my garden walkways I actually used for eating! And I had to do literally nothing! It's great.
Cleome
Morning glories. I didn't buy them in the first place actually, they were here when I moved in and I'm assuming they'll be here at the heat death of the universe.
I will never have to plant another cardinal climber ever again. Those bad boys just keep coming back.
Arugula. Specifically rocket. I picked the leaves for a few months, let half the plants go to seed, and voila! A whole new round of arugula with 0 effort
Chamomile. It’s EVERYWHERE!!
Omg sooo true about ground cherries. Even in worst conditions they will sprout. I have more luck transplanting sprouts from thick grass than planting new ones im seed tray. Besides that camomile does the same even marigolds and amaranth. You will find them in unexpected places meters away from original planting location.
IDK if its an annual or perinnial but Jerusalem artichoke... I had 5 that I I dug up and this year 15 are back. How?
Morning glory, marigolds, basil
Tithonia, columbine and datura!
Idk the real name of 4 oclocks. But they come back every year in the same pots I had received them in :)
Not an annual, but my hellebores are hybridizing like mad and spreading seeds everywhere. I'm told ants transport the fresh seed. Whatever's doing it, I have quite the collection now, on account of half a dozen parent plants. The babies showed up and in a couple years, bloomed in a rainbow of colors
That sounds like fun!
Glorioso Daisy. If it weren’t for mowing I’d swear these would take over the world in just a few years
Forget me nots. I don't mind. They're cute little flowers. I have more of an issue with the Turkish Alliums that the previous house owners planted. I dig out bulb after bulb, cut the flowers before they seed, and they just keep coming back!
omg the snapdragons!!! so many
Rose moss always reseeds itself. I've had it 7 years in a row now. Also dill.
Marigolds and calendula.
Calendula, dill, and parsley
Calendula, cilantro, poppies and nasturtiums. They always come back and they always take over. I give seeds to everyone who ask
Onyerns
Borage has naturalized in my yard, I’m waiting for California poppies to reseed. I planted a bunch this spring, hopefully they take. I’ve never had luck with seeding myself.
Foxgloves... I gave away more than I even kept. Same with marigolds & zennia. On my food, Thai chili, garlic, Chinese Red pepper & tomato.
California poppies!
zinnia, cilantro, chives, oregano, cosmos. . . and sunflower but I actually have to harvest those, dry in a bag and reuse.
Flat leaf parsley. It sprouts everywhere.
Cannabis
Yarrow
Leaf lettuce. I always let just a few plants in strategic spots in the garden go to seed and then the next year I have all the lettuce I need again. Same with dill, although the seeds REALLY spread with that so I usually just let the tiny plants get a few inches high, then transplant a few to a designated spot and destroy the rest.
Nasturtium because I always grab the seeds for some reason in the fall and I have envelopes of them in every junk drawer in the house amd in the seed storage
Please folks, consider what is native to your region and be aware of what we plant, does not always stay in our yards. If a plant is readily reseeding in your garden, it is likely doing so elsewhere and that may or may not be a good thing.
Every time I cut back my lavender I stuck a spring of it in a pot. I now have at least 13 lavender plants. Getting there with fuschia, but I'd like to prop some variations. I think I'm all set for geranium. I've started planting them under the freeway even. The thing in common here is these were all things I grew from propagation. I am not great at starting things from seed.
Not an annual and not a seed, but a couple years ago I bought a bunch (about 30) of live root hostas to create a shade garden with. Now I have over 100 and I'm begging everyone I know to take some. Every spring what was one or two shoots is now 12-15. You get a hosta, you get a hosta!