SEARCH
MENU
  • About
  • Subscribe
  • Shop
Creative & Frugal Home & Garden Ideas

Empress of Dirt

  • Grow
  • Make
  • Ideas

New here?

Dig in!

Start here

Simple Trick to Save the Best Seeds from Your Garden

Published on May 25, 2024 ♛ By Melissa J. Will

This post contains affiliate links.
Read full disclosure statement here.

Share on FacebookShare on PinterestShare on Email

Use this tip while your flowers are blooming to guarantee you save top-quality seeds for next year’s planting. The healthiest flowers, fruits, and vegetables have superior genetics, so be sure to mark your best for later.

If you are new to seed saving, see Seed Saving For Beginners.

Favorite poppy flower marked in the garden for future seed saving.

How to Save the Best Seeds

Poppy flower growing in garden with tulle bag tied around stem

Seed saving isn’t just a matter of gathering the seeds at the right time—when they are dry and mature—but choosing from your very best flowers for the finest future plants.

Ever notice how the quality of blossoms can vary within the very same plant?

Sometimes a few flowers will be healthier, bigger, stronger, and better formed than others. This is because even within the same plant the genetics can vary, which means the best flowers have the best quality seeds.

And that’s where this tip comes in handy.

By saving seeds from the finest specimens, you will have the best possible flowers next time.

Seed Saving Tip

  • Just like your best flowers, your best quality fruits and vegetables also have the best quality seeds. If you’re saving seeds, keep seeds from your best fruits.

1Mark Your Best Flowers

Tie tulle bags to the stems of your best flowers during peak bloom time.

Tulle bag tied to stem of red poppy flower in garden.
Tulle bag tied to poppy with biggest flower and strongest stem

I specifically like using tulle (organza) bags because they help with Step 2 (below).

I used a white tulle bag so it would stand out in the photo but you can get them in other colors as well.

You can buy tulle bags here at dollartree.com (US shipping) sold under the name Baby Shower Organza Drawstring Bags. They are also sold as wedding favors. If you’re shopping in-person, check dollar stores.

Bonus Tips

  • Medium and large size tulle bags are also helpful for protecting fruit and vegetables from birds and other animals while they are ripening.
  • Tulle bags are also used to protect flowers from cross-pollination. Very useful when you want to breed plants by hand.

Join Us

Empress of Dirt

Get your free creative gardening newsletter by email every two weeks

Sign Up Here

2Hang Tulle Bags Over Your Best Flowers

As the flowers start to fade, move the tulle bags to enclose the flower heads. This will ensure they are in place to catch any seeds that form later.

Tulle bags collecting seeds from old flowers
Tulle bags collecting seeds

In the pictures (above), you can see the flowers have turned to seed within the tulle bags.

The bag allows good air flow, keeps animals from taking the seeds, and catches any seeds that fall from the plant.

Close-up of tulle bag collecting seeds
Close-up of tulle bag collecting seeds

When the seeds are dry and mature, you’ve got them in one handy bag.


Garden supplies purchased at a dollar store including seed packets and a bird bath liner.

Related: 10 Surprisingly Good Dollar Store Finds for Gardeners.


Mark the Best Flowers While You Can

These poppies came from seeds in a neighbor’s garden.

Close-up of inside red poppy flower
Red poppy flower close-up

I had my eye on one particularly massive bloom and placed a ribbon on the stem (with his permission).

Months later on a dry, cool fall day, the flower was long gone but the seed pod was filled with seeds.

Planted next spring, they were just as beautiful as expected.

Red poppies blooming in spring flower garden.
Red poppies blooming in spring flower garden

Close-up of giant red poppy in the garden.

Related: 10 Irresistible Reasons To Grow Poppies


Without something marking them, by the time plants have gone to seed, it would be nearly impossible to recall which blossoms were the total showstoppers because the evidence is long gone.

Stock up on tulle bags and get ready for blooming season.

Resources

More Tips

  • How to Get Started With Seed Saving
  • The Right Way to Store Seeds in Your Home
  • How to Keep Seeds Organized
  • Seed Viability: How Long Seeds Stay Fresh in Storage

Ebook

Seed Starting For Beginners ebook cover.

Seed Starting for Beginners
Sow Inside Grow Outside

by Melissa J. Will

NEW EDITION | Everything you need to get started with indoor seed starting for indoor and outdoor plants. Grow what you want—any time of year!

About This Ebook | Visit Ebook Shop

This ebook is a digital file (PDF format) you save to your device. It is not a physical product.

Buy Now
$8 US

PayPal, Credit Card, Apple Pay

~Melissa the Empress of Dirt ♛

Poppy flower growing in garden with tulle bag tied around stem
Share on FacebookShare on PinterestShare on Email

Free Newsletters

Signup for creative & frugal home and garden ideas!

This site is spam-free and you can unsubscribe anytime.

Thank you!

You have successfully joined our subscriber list.

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Please rate these instructions out of 5 stars:




Comments

  1. Brenda Carter says

    July 20, 2024 at 1:15 pm

    Love getting your emails. I always learn something and I’ve been a life long gardener. Thank you for such great information

    Reply
    • Melissa J. Will says

      July 21, 2024 at 12:11 pm

      Very kind of you, Brenda. Thank you!

      Reply

Melissa J. Will - Empress of DirtWelcome!
I’m Melissa J. Will a.k.a. the Empress of Dirt (Ontario, Canada).
Join me as I share creative + frugal home & garden ideas with a dash of humor.
More: Contact/About
New here? Dig in!  |  Our Podcast

Handy Resources

  • Soil Calculator
  • Garden Name Generator
  • Printable Garden Planner
  • Favorite Garden Quotes
  • Botanical Plant Names 101
DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

Some articles on this site contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Affiliate and Ad Disclosure | Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2025 · Empress of Dirt Creative + Frugal Home & Garden Ideas