{"id":35813,"date":"2016-07-25T19:29:51","date_gmt":"2016-07-26T01:29:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dailyimprovisations.com\/?p=35813"},"modified":"2016-07-25T19:29:51","modified_gmt":"2016-07-26T01:29:51","slug":"how-to-collect-larkspur-seed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailyimprovisations.com\/how-to-collect-larkspur-seed\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Collect Larkspur Seed"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"collect<\/a>Larkspur is an annual flower<\/strong> that blooms in late spring and is going to seed around the middle of July in southwest Idaho. This happens even if it is getting watered regularly, as mine does.<\/p>\n

The seed pods begin as green tubes that look a lot like miniature pea pods. One pod forms at every point where there was a flower. When the top of the plant finally dries in the heat of July, the pods crack open, beginning at the top of the pod. In a while longer, the whole pod will split open, scattering the seeds everywhere, but for a few days it sits there, holding the seeds like a goblet.<\/p>\n

It is easy to pick the seed pods, and as long as you keep them right-side-up, there will be a nice bunch of seeds in there. You should choose pods from the healthiest looking plants, which should still be somewhat clear, since the tops dry first and you can still see which plants were tallest and fullest. It is probably also best to get seed from a few different plants, if you want to continue getting all the same colors that you were before. You could try marking plants earlier in the season, to select for color, because most of the plants won’t have any flowers at the seed collecting stage. However, I’m not saying that collecting seed from a particular plant will guarantee that color, as the plants will have been significantly cross pollinated. That is why getting seed from a variety of plants is your best bet.<\/p>\n

I made this YouTube video to show what the dry seed pods look like and how the seeds can be collected and saved.<\/p>\n