Gardening Tip ~ Shake Your Dying Flowers, aka Self-seeding Flowers for your Gardens

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Article by Doreen Coyne, a member of the Richmond Hill Garden & Horticultural Society.

Nasturiums are an annual flower that make a great flower that will grow endlessly in your gardens.  They are completely edible, are easy to grow, come in many colours, and they self-seed.

Self-seeding is important because I can let them go to seed. Once the plant has dried at the end of the season, I can simply shake  those seeds off the “dead” plant and they start growing in the spring! Very satisfying. 

Indeed, I have several cherry tomatoes that have “regrown” themselves for the 4th time this past summer.  Done simply by allowing the last few tomatoes to fall into the soil then covering them with some extra soil. Voila – new plants the next year. 

Other self-seeding flowering annuals include: 

  • Morning glory (Ipomoea tricolor)
  • Plains coreopsis (Coreopsis tinctoria)
  • Larkspur (Consolida ajacis)
  • Tall verbena (Verbena bonariensis)
  • Cosmos (Cosmos bipinnatus)
  • Pot marigold (Calendula officinalis)
  • Borage (Borago officinalis)
  • Beefsteak plant (Perilla frutescens)
  • Love-in-a-mist (Nigella damascena)
  • Spider flower (Cleome)
  • California poppy (Eschscholzia californica)