Saving Saponaria Seed

This post is part of my series on saving cut flower seeds.

Please see the Save Your Own Cut Flowers post about methods for selecting, harvesting, processing, and storing your seeds!

Saponaria aka Soapwort

Saponaria vaccaria

This is one that’s simple to save, and you’ll get a lot of seed from it, but you do have to leave it in the field when it’s a fast crop that you may have counted on turning over quickly. In any case, wait til the flower fade and the plant produces garbanzo-sized pods on each umbel, and wait some more until those are pretty dang brown and dry. Snip them off into a labeled bucket. Allow to dry further if necessary, and then go to town crushing them with your hands or against a screen or by stomping them or smashing them with a stick. Go ‘head, get your aggression out.

After stomping, pass your batch through your screens and winnow to remove light material. You should get a good amount of seed that will be much less expensive than buying it in and will germinate like a dream. Store in a freezer if you have space, or in a cool dark place that has a stable temperature.

Learn more about seed saving and other gardening topics in my on-farm workshops!

Pink clouds.

Rounds seeds perfect for a seeder. Pretend to be a vegetable farmer with this crop!