Seed pods - good or bad?
Rodger Whitlock (Thu, 08 Jul 2004 13:02:15 PDT)
On 4 Jul 04 at 11:30, Susan Hayek wrote:
Is there a definitive decision on seed pods?
My Louisiana irises have huge pods. Do I chomp them off or leave
them on? Is there a way to use the seed? Or, in order to increase my
supply, is it better to remove the pods, toss them, and just divide
the clumps?
Traditional horticultural practice says to remove seed heads unless
you need the seed. The reason is usually stated as "so the plant
won't waste energy forming seed." I have no idea if this is complete
BS, or a layman's way of expressing something important about plant
growth.
Certainly flowering annuals perform better if you remove spent
flowers and don't let them go to seed.
There's also the tidiness factor. Spent flowers and seedheads tend to
be somewhat unsightly, so your garden will look better if you
deadhead faithfully.
But don't forget that the PBS seed exchange (or some other) might be
very happy to have seed from your irises.
--
Rodger Whitlock
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
"To co-work is human,
to cow-ork, bovine."