Saving Seeds - This Time Flower Seeds

A few years ago I purchased a package of zinnia flower seeds from Baker Creek Heirloom seeds.  I just wanted a little color in the garden.  I actually planted the seeds right outside the garden last year.  When they flowered, I collected all of the seeds from the flower heads and saved them over the winter.

This spring I had some room in the garden and I planted a double row of the zinnias.  They all came up and they bloomed and bloomed and bloomed - from early spring right up until the first freeze.

Temperatures in the mid-twenties in November were like a light switch being turned off, making the vivid colors of the zinnia blooms go to dull brown. 

If "a penny saved is a penny earned," what is a seed saved?  I decided to find out Sunday afternoon after church.  It was a tedious job, but someone had to do it.  I went to the zinnia patch and plucked every dried flower head off the stalk.  They were dry and brittle.  Most of the seeds had not shattered and fallen to the ground.  I was able to pick them in the nick of time.  I quickly filled up a bucket and a cup with seeds.

It is going to rain for the next couple of days, so there will be lots of humidity in the air, but once it dries up a bit, I will shake up the seed heads, separating the seeds from the flower heads and stems.

Then I'll store the seeds in a container that I'll label.  Next year I'll do it all over again.