Hollyhocks, Carnations from seeds. Saving Four O'Clock seeds. 8.21.14

Four O'Clock Seeds.  8.21.14

Collecting 4:00 Seeds.  8.21.14

 I collected seeds from the Four O'Clock plants.  They might grow fine from the roots.  I collected seeds just because I can.

They are open pollinated.  There is a good chance they may not come true from seeds.  That's fine with me.

I just lean the seed-containing tips into a labeled envelope and shake.  The ripened seeds fall in with no effort at all.  In fact, moving the plants, lots of seeds fall off.

I labeled the envelopes with the color of the plant I collected from.  Even if they don't come true, If I start them next year that should give me a diversity of types.  I can grow separately from red, yellow, white, yellow marble, and orange marble.

This is about 6 weeks for the carnation seedlings.  I just sprinkled the seeds on top of the potting soil, scratched them in a little, and kept them watered.  I didn't know they would grow so easily.  Soon I need to divide them and pot them up either separately or in much smaller bunches.

The Hollyhocks are ficifolia  "Happy Lights".  I started them about 8 weeks ago.  I have other plants in containers, either Fordham Giant or Carnival Mix, that are almost ready to bloom, from seeds started mid June.  I mixed the varieties so I don't know which one.

Saving 4:00 Seeds for Next Year.  8.21.14

All of these are new to me.  It's great trying new plants.

Carnation Seedlings.  8.21.14

Hollyhock Seedlings.  8.21.14