Seed collection has begun!

It's that time of the year!

Thursday, I harvested my first batch of Gomphrena seedheads and spent a lot of the day sorting them. I also cut my dwarf Teddy Bear sunflower heads and sorted them.

Today, I collected more Malva, Callirhoe, and pruned off my first set of Monarda seedheads. I don't have very good luck collecting the beebalm, but I try every year, anyway.

Hopefully, I'll have some more hosta seed to share, shortly, too! I just noticed some of my seed-grown 'mutts' beginning to bloom. They're so rewarding to grow from seed and it's amazing what variety you can get from plants prized simply for their leaves.

Fruit and flowers.

My beebalms are blooming! I tend to gather collections of the same plant, and beebalm is one of those little collections. I currently have three flavors, including Monarda 'Lambada' that I just got a few days ago.

Here are the two that are currently blooming. The hot pink is probably my favorite, but this is the first year that the purple has bloomed and I'm pretty pleased with it. 'My' hummingbird and some of his harem were hanging out over there, today, and the butterflies are going crazy. I'll go out later and see if I can't stay still enough to get some bird shots. :)



The horsenettle in the yard (devil's tomato, as it's sometimes referred to) is blooming, but my real tomatoes are ahead of the game. They've got flowers and fruit. Here's a greeny off of my Silvery Fir Tree tomato. It's currently winning with five baby greenies!