At the end of 2017 I planted a punnet of the flowering plant Cosmos.

They reared themselves in early 2018 and were a pleasure to behold. I didn’t grab them out when they died only ages later. By that time these few plants had gone to seed, not that I had noticed. Later that year I considered buying some more but then noticed new plants popping up all over the place. By early 2019 the top front and back of my garden was awash with a forest of cosmos plants flowering in white and various shades of pink and purple. It was truly a spectacle. They self-seeded anywhere and everywhere.

The plants grew rapidly and intermeshed with themselves and other plants. My self-sown tomatoes loved to hide in there and suddenly weeks later surprise me with crops of cherry tomatoes.  All this display for no effort. That’s the sort of gardening I am best at!

Friends asked for seed but time passed and I never got around to making a harvest. Then late last year up came plants, although this time not as luxurious a forest as previously. They continue to flower now. Self -seeded tomatoes and marigolds mix with them.

Today I hunted around and found a brown paper bag to keep the seeds dry, then collected seeds from those flowers which have died – all within a couple of minutes because it was so easy to see the seeds on the dead dry flower heads.  With minimal effort and knowing I can go back for more over the coming weeks, I was able to collect many seeds, and will happily forward them onto friends who need a few to start themselves off during the coming Spring.

The seed is a hard, black crescent shape

I look forward to testing out my germination skills in a six months’ time.