Collecting Seeds - Gazania

Gazania is native of South Africa. They require full sun, are drought tolerant, do not require fertilization and very hardy. They produce large bright colored flowers from October till April(in Delhi NCR region). They are perfect for home gardens due to their low maintenance and brilliant flowers. You can plant them in containers or the ground as flower beds or boundaries.

Gazania comes in brilliant colors

If you have a Gazania plants this year and you want to have them next year, then just save some seeds and you can have many more plants at no cost(only a little effort).

Seed collection is easy. Snip off the flower heads when the petals start to shrivel. Let the flower heads to dry up by putting them in a paper envelope and placing it in a warm and well ventilated area. I generally place similar variety of flower heads in one envelope and label it. Within a few days the fluffy seed heads will start to burst out of the flower head. Save the seeds in a labelled paper envelope an place it in a cool dry place.

Flower head can be snipped off and placed in a paper envelope at this stage

If you let the flower head to completely dry up on the plant then the fluffy seeds will be blown away with the wind. Therefore it's important to snip them off and place them in a paper envelope before that.

Gazania Seeds ready to fly

Store the saved seeds in an envelope or glass jar placed in a cool dark place.

Winter/Spring 2014 Terrace Flower Garden

Who doesn't love Winter and Spring time in Delhi. It's the time when you get some respite from the scorching heat of the summer and sweaty humidity of monsoon. Moreover one gets to enjoy the outdoors more rather than hiding in air-conditioned rooms.

Another thing which appeals me about these two seasons is the floral explosion in and around Delhi. Most of our winter flowers are known as Summer flowers in cooler regions. Delhi Winter temperature ranges from around 5 degree Celsius to 25 degree Celsius. There is no danger of frost usually as the temperature remains above 0. Winter is followed by pleasant Spring with temperature ranging between 20-25 degree Celsius. Both these seasons are favorable for growing a wide range of flowers such as Petunia, Pansies, Gazania, Dahlia, Aster and the list goes on.

I wanted to have a piece of floral action at my place, so I decided to have a small terrace garden. I had a few Gazania and Dianthus growing in pots which I had started from last year's saved seeds. Got a few more plants from the local nursery and put them all together in a marble kitchen sink which had been lying around without any use.

Then I got 3 cement planters and planted Petunia, Gazania and Aster(which I got really cheap in grow trays).

The above 4 pics were taken on 26th Nov '13.

And this is how it looked like after about a month(19th Dec '13)

Notice the small Aster plants flowering. I later read somewhere that if flowers appear too early they should be pinched to allow the plant to become strong. Which is probably what I should have done because my plants only produced a few flowers at a very short height and then withered away.

And finally in full bloom. This is how it looked like by Feb end.

For some reason Dahlias attracted monkeys and peacocks. So I lost quite a few flowers to them. Here are some of the Dahlias which were left.

Notice the Dahlias in vase. Those were really big ones. Must be around 8 inches if not more. I prefer to keep the flowers on the plant but due to a strong wind one night these 2 were left dangling. So I had to cut them and placed them in the vase where they stayed for good 2 weeks.

Here's a look at some more flowers from this season's garden.....

Habiscus

Kalanchoe

Marigold

Geranium

Lily

Ranunculus

Now as I am writing this blog it's almost end of Spring and beginning of Summer. So I'm in seed collection mode. Will also try to save Dahlia tubers - it's something that I have never tried before. Also have 2 lily bulbs that need to be taken care of to get bloom next year. More on these topics in my next blog.