Delphinium Seeds: How to Harvest

Written by admin on June 21, 2022. Posted in blog, Cottage Gardens, delphinium, Seed Collecting

Gathering Delphinium Flower Seeds

Who doesn’t love Delphinium, right? These wispy tall growers are a cottage garden essential, and once you plant them, their seed pods create opportunistic growth year after year. But what if you want to collect the delphinium seeds? The plant provides easily harvested seed pods and more than you could plant in any one season. Here is a quick guide to finding the seed pods and storing them.

1. Look down the delphinium flower stalk. The pods will be right along the stalk, and they look like green beans that are slightly cracked open. When the pod turns brown and crispy, it will expose its treasure: the black seeds. The delphinium seeds look like little rocks, and are fairly hard if you roll them through your thumb and forefinger.
2. Twist the pods off the stalk. Grab the pods and with a slick twist, pluck as many as you can off the main delphinium plant. I usually just roll it in my palm and crack the pods brittle shell. Then blow lightly to get rid of the chaff.
3. Place the seeds in a paper envelope. A paper storage envelope is great for storage as it will allow any moisture to vent off as the seed dries.

If you are like me, you love surprises in the spring. I collect seeds for storage, but also get handfuls and sprinkle them around our property. In spring we are rewarded with delphinium blooms along our fence lines and throughout our garden :).

Tags: delphinium flowers, delphinium seeds, growing delphinium, seed harvesting