O K I have a question about my larkspurs.
I have dreamed of gobbs of them mixed in with the lilies.
I direct sowed many seeds in fall of '09. A few germinated and reseeded in 2010. I have sort of a nice crop now with many really short small ones and one big fella right out in plain sight.
My problem is, this fall I need to spread leaf compost on all the gardens, no space spared for reseeds.
Question: Should I just hope for a crop under the compost?
Should I collect seeds from the big fella and any others I can find ,and direct sow after the compost is down?

cyb Yep, I would collect the seeds just to "cover your butt" to make sure you have blooms nxt year. i love Larkspurs. Always think of my Grandparents. They loved flowers...

Thanks for the response.I just needed confirmation.

After everythings dries I'll check see if I still have seeds in my pods...

That was going to be my next question.How long do you wait to take seeds.
I have harvested poppies and pulled the whole plant when the pods were green and the bottom leaves were brown.I hang the plants upside down with a bag tied around the seedpods. When everything is dead I just shake the bag and all .I can hear the d=seeds in the bag.

The larkspurs I have are Galallee blue and I have not seen them since I bought them 3 years ago.
I would like to keep the colors to just that blue.

They will dry and pop open, I usually take a small paper sack, like a lunch sack and clip the seed pods and put them in there. That way they can dry and not be moldy. Nothing worse than moldy seeds. don't ask how I know, You probably already know.... Mine are all colors then, so you may not want them....

O K I will wait until the pods turn brown. I know its important to not have too much moisture in the tissues of the plant ,they will mold. I hang my poppies in the garage with sandwich bags tied to the stems .

I use a grocery bag for larger amounts of poppy plants.

If you make it to the Dollar store they have small lunch sacks of paper, that is what I use. so we are doing great!!!!

I was just out inspectingthe seedpods on some of the larkspurs. I noticed some low plants were light blue and even a pink.
I guess I will have a mix like yours in years to come.
I will try to only harvest the blue which actually looks like a more purple.

It is a happy mix. I got it too. These are all volunteers from last year.
You will have to mark the ones you want with a little string or dab of paint, so you can get the colors you want. Cause I can't tell one color from the other when they start drying..

Those look great. I did pull some today .Left the big fella in place to ripen a few days longer
Big Fella,hard to see too much sun

I love it. Aren't those pretty??? I love the light airy look and the bright colors.....

Me too.They fit so well with lilies.