Even though I'm frugal minded and sometimes pay as little as 10 cents for a 6 cell pack of flowers, many of my discounted purchases turn out to be quite nice. Sadly, there's no guarantee I'll be able to find those same flowers next year, even at regular price.
My solution is to save seed for as many of these 'keepers' as I can. When you grow as many flowers as I do, keeping track of all of them can be a chore. I tried writing a description of the flower to go with the saved seed. That didn't work, at all. A picture is the only way to go.
I'll give the pictured viola a name. This is my first saved viola seed this year, so it gets the name 'Viola #1'. On the seed packet, I'll write that name and the word 'pic' ('pic' will let me know there's a picture to accompany the seed). In my 'Saved Seed 2016' folder on my computer will be a picture with the name 'Viola #1', along with any notes I may have made.
There is a little time and work involved, but later I'll thank myself. Rather than thinking 'Now, which viola was this? Did I like it enough to plant it, again? Where did I have it growing? Would it look better here, or there?; one look at the picture and I'll have an answer for all those questions.
Add your voice! Click below to comment. ThriftyFun is powered by your wisdom!
Brilliant system! Things work best when you give it time and care in the beginning, then it just falls into place.
Where do you get your seeds so cheap?
I have several hundred packs of seed. 99% of those are seeds that I have saved from plants I have grown. I could never plant and grow all those seed. It's a struggle each year deciding which seed I will use...and I continue to save seed. It has become a compulsion, of sorts.
As for my system, I kinda like it. On my computers and on my external HDs are folders titled 'Flowers And Vegetables'. Two sub folders are 'Flowers And Vegetables I Own' and 'Flowers And Vegetables I Would Like To Own'.
The first contains pictures of flowers and vegetables for seed I have saved. There are sub folders for plants I own, trees, shrubs, iris, rose, etc.
Seldom do I buy seed. My purchases are seed said to be rare. This is never the case, but a ploy for the seed companies to keep the price exorbitantly high. One such purchase this year was the Colchiasanthus (Corkscrew Vine), 5 seed $12.00. This vine is a cow pea. One plant can produce enough seed to supply a large community. Rare? Hardly.
By saving seed, I never make these type purchases more than once.
Add your voice! Click below to comment. ThriftyFun is powered by your wisdom!
