When to plant seeds? aquilegia and Lupins and Dwarf sun flowers

Zxc01

Hi folks

This may have been asked before ......but....I have kept the seed from the above.....Just would like to know do I sow them now for next year or wait till spring??

I have also cut dying heads off dwarf sunflower ( which are absolutely fab and are thriving in my garden), will I be able to dry it and cultivate the seeds for next year?grew these from a packet of seed my son wanted in March!

Going to give it a go?

Thanks in advance

btw only fell in love with gardening last summer, I am addicted!

looksee

Save sunflower seeds till next spring - take them from a healthy, sturdy plant that has flowered well. Sow in spring indoors and plant out when frosts are past. Let the birds have the rest later in the year.

Both aquilegia and lupins will self seed, so you could just leave them to do their thing and spread around the seedlings in spring. Lupins especially will not come true (exactly like the parent plant) from seed, but you will get lupins of various colours. You can propagate from basal cuttings, it might be a bit soon this year, the plants will most likely survive the winter and come back next year, at which stage you should be able to take cuttings from the bottom of the plant which will come the same as the parent plant. Lupins die off naturally after a few - 5 or 6 - years.

Aquilegia will self seed with great enthusiasm, again eventually going back to mostly blue or pink, you will be digging the excess out in a year or two.

Welcome to gardening 😀

Harris8855

To be honest, I would recommend buying new ones if you want to be guaranteed success, they are incredibly cheap - just make sure to buy from an Irish source.

However, If you save then just make sure to dry them out properly, store in a cool dry place in a paper envelope.

Zxc01

thanks for all your advise.

I am new to gardening and I am totally hooked to saving the seeds at the mo!!

I am going to have a go with the sunflowers and lupins.....I have spotted some baby  aquilegia....but i only have one white one so going to try them from seed next year