seedheads

Echinacea made lots of prickly seedheads- I have left them on the plants, in hopes to get some self-sown. I've read that goldfinches and other birds like to eat the seed, but I haven't seen any birds come to mine.

Still eating herbs and the broccoli is greener (less caterpillars) but the real bright spot in my garden now is the marigold. I collected old flower heads from my favorite velvety red ones

They look kind of- unpleasant- with rumpled, wilted old petals

But tug those out and there's the nice seed

The dried ones have the best seed formed; I discarded all the heads plucked that were still green. And now I'm just deadheading and composting the remainder. I got such a pile of seed I don't need any more!

Celosia seed from the orange/pink flower (I forgot to include in an earlier post)- some chaff mixed in.

Seed I won't use: one pod of okra. Not surprised: the plants got so denuded by insects in the back bed, I pretty much forgot they were there.

Not quite seed yet: my clematis flower turned into a head of silky tassels.

And this last was a surprise: my husband's aunt sent me some flower seed.

She told me they were hollyhocks, but it doesn't match images I find

There's another kind in the mix, too- I recognize these- columbine.

And one or two very flat, round seed pods- perhaps this is the hollyhock.

I will just have to grow some in spring and find out!

Also in the little hand-tied packet was a hitchhiker: an earwig inside one of the seed cases. Dead, but it startled me when that fell out!