How to harvest Zinnia seeds for next spring

If you have a beautiful garden -- don't let it go to waste. Saving seeds from your best flowers is an easy, inexpensive way to get a head start on next year's garden. Colorful, annual zinnias are a great candidate for seed harvesting.

Zinnia plants that have finished flowering
paper lunch bags or envelopes
cool basement or refrigerator

Instructions

- 1
  
  Select a few dried seed heads from your favorite zinnia plant -- if you planted mixed colors , you can even narrow it down to just one color if you like. The seed heads are the centers of the flowers, once the petals have dried and fallen off -- they should be dried and dark brown.
- 2
  
  Test the pod to make sure the seeds are mature -- dig into it with your thumb -- the seeds should fall out easily into your hands -- the wedge-shaped pieces in the photo.
- 3
  
  Collect as many dried seed heads as you wish (each will have a hundred seeds or more) and put them whole into a paper bag. It is best to collect from several different plants if you can and save a few extras to make sure you have enough if your germination rate is low.
- 4
  Label your bag and store it in a cool basement, or roll up your bag, seal it in a jar and place it in the refrigerator.
- 5
  4-6 weeks before last frost, start your seeds indoors (see link for instructions) or sow seeds outside after last frost.

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