By now, most people know the importance of conserving native plant communities and natural habitats. Many people even know the importance of planting an abundance of native plants in their own gardens. However, not many people are aware of how easy it is to start native plants from seed, and to collect those seeds yourself – You can save hundreds of dollars this way, while ensuring that you’re supporting the biodiversity of your local landscape!
You may be wondering, how do I collect native plant seeds?
Collecting and growing seeds from native plants is easy enough, as long as you have a little working knowledge with plants and seeds – All you really need is a few kraft/manilla envelopes, a little time, and an area with plenty of seeds to collect!
Where to Find Native Plants for Collecting Seed
The first step in collecting native plant seeds to grow in your own garden is to find the native plants in the first place! The good news is that native plants are more abundant and accessible than you might think. I would suggest starting in your own garden or yard, and from there expand your search into local parks and wild areas.
Your own backyard
It’s surprising how much seed you can collect from your own garden, especially if you already have patches of native plants that are doing well. My own garden is nowhere near where I’d like it to be in terms of diversity and total cover – Probably 90% of our yard is still turf grass – but I’m trying to chip away at it every year. By growing out seeds from native plants that are already proving to do well in our garden, I can ensure that our yard is full of vigorous plants that support local wildlife and outcompete the weeds!
Here is a list of plants I’ve collected seed from in my own garden this year for growing next year:
- Echinacea purpurea – Purple Coneflower. One of the most commonly planted wildflowers, and for good reason – It’s an excellent wildflower for bees & butterflies.
- Coreopsis pubescens – Star Tickseed. This was a tag-along in a pot of Hydrophyllum canadense (Canada waterleaf) I had purchased from an online native plant nursery. It does well in the transition zone between sun and shade. Even though it’s not native to my immediate area it is native to the general ecoregion. It is a favorite of little green sweat bees and leafcutter bees in our garden.
- Pycnanthemum pilosum – Hairy Mountain Mint. A nice mint-scented clumping perennial that is probably the single best plant for pollinators I’ve ever seen – I’ve seen bees and wasps come to this plant I never even knew existed!
- Solidago flexicaulis – Zigzag Goldenrod. I had planted these to develop a woodland planting, and they’ve done really well. They make a nice groundcover in the spring and summer and bloom nicely in late Fall, providing that critical late-season pollen and nectar for native pollinators.
- Polemonium reptans – Jacob’s Ladder. This is a spring blooming woodland wildflower that is recommended for my area by the NWF for supporting specialist pollinators.
- Monarda clinopodia – Basil Bee Balm. This has worked really well in shady parts of our garden, giving a nice mass of white flowers in June-July when not much else is blooming. It is a favorite of native bees.
Local Parks and Wild Areas
Once you’ve exhausted your own garden in your search for native plant seeds, you can branch out from there – I find that local parks are a fantastic place to collect seeds. You do have to be careful that you’re not violating any park ordinances, but from what I’ve found most parks don’t mind at all if you’re just collecting seeds.
Side note – Never collect actual plants from any wild place or park. Natural communities are too sensitive to tolerate wild collection of live plants; it’s much better to collect seeds and grow them yourself.
Another area to look is wild places like roadsides and drainage easements – There’s a drainage easement behind where I work, and from what I can tell it’s been seeded with a “Riparian Buffer” seed mix. There’s an incredible diversity of native plants along this ditch, and I’ve collected the following this year:
- Elymus canadensis – Canada Wild Rye. This is a great native grass for establishing new plantings, it roots in quickly and stops erosion the first year. It doesn’t live very long but serves as a nurse crop for longer lived native plants.
- Bouteloua cutipendula – Sideoats Grama. This is a great native grass for dry sunny spots. It only grows 2 feet tall and has a really “garden-worthy” look about it.
- Schizachyrium scoparium – Little Bluestem. I already have this in our own garden, but it’s good to collect seed from multiple sources if you really want to boost biodiversity in your garden.
- Monarda fistulosa – Wild Bergamot. This is an excellent plant for pollinators, especially bumblebees.
Collecting the Seeds
Once you’ve identified the native plants you want to collect seeds from, you’ll need to do some planning. Sometimes it can be hard to tell what seed head belongs to what plant – I usually find if you google the botanical name of the plant followed by “Seed Head” (for example – “Monarda clinopodia seed head”) you’ll get good images you can reference. It can help to keep notes on your phone exactly where you spotted the plants so you know what you’re collecting.
This is where the kraft envelopes come in handy – I use the 9×12 envelopes with a clasp for collecting the seed heads. If you’re collecting from a wild area, just break the whole seed head off into the envelope for drying and cleaning later; if you’re collecting from a park, especially a planted area, it’s a little more respectable to knock the seeds off the seed head into the envelope while leaving the seed head intact. Most people probably wouldn’t enjoy seeing the plants in their local park shredded for seed collection!
For seeds that loft on the wind (Milkweeds, asters, native grasses), just gently comb the seeds into your envelope with your hands. Remember, you don’t need very much seed to fill a large area!
Drying and Cleaning Seeds
Once you’ve collected your seed heads, you need to separate the seeds from the chaff for sowing. I usually use a sheet of card stock to sort seeds – Dump out the seed heads onto the sheet, and start separating the seeds. I use a pair of blunt-tipped tweezers to gently move seed into a pile.
After separating the seed, I put them into a smaller kraft envelope with a seal. Write the species, area and date collected.
Storing Seed
Seeds don’t usually ripen exactly when they need to be started, so it may be necessary to store them for a few months. I usually set the manilla envelopes of seeds in the refrigerator until I’m ready to plant them, as this preserves viability.
Note – Some seeds don’t store very well and do better if they’re sown immediately upon collection. Prime examples would be most of the spring woodland wildflowers, and many tree and shrub seeds.
Starting Your Native Plant Seeds
Every species varies in seed germination requirements. When I was running the native plant nursery, I usually artificially stratified batches of seed in the refrigerator and started them in a grow room indoors under lights. For my own garden, I actually prefer to winter sow the seeds outdoors – This helps to take advantage of natural temperature fluctuations over the winter to break down seed coats and spur germination – Often I get better results winter sowing than I did artificially stratifying!
By winter sowing roughly around the week of Christmas, you can ensure the seeds won’t sprout prematurely. We often get a mid-winter thaw right around the beginning of January, and if I start seeds too soon they may sprout during that time.
Usually winter sown seeds start sprouting the end of March to beginning of April. Once these seedlings have a few true leaves, they can be potted up into larger pots before placing out into the garden.