16 Aug Fri 2013
Poinsettia in summer
This summer hasn't seemed much like summer. I'm an observer for the NOAA and the average high temperature for August so far this month is only 77 and July was 79! Night before last it was 52 degrees here--barely warm enough to ripen a good tomato.
Many years ago I saw a flower that I had to have. You gardeners know what I'm talking about--that obsession to FIND THAT PLANT! It was during my "I'm only going to plant native plants" phase and the plant is called Euphorbia heterophylla, or Summer Poinsettia. I don't think it is actually native to my area of the world, but it is native to the US.
One of my customers was at the nursery one day and asked if I would like seeds for a plant that she couldn't grow at her house because she had too much shade. She said it was a native poinsettia. I was excited and said "yes!" I planted and shared and it spread and I saved seeds and for some reason or another, last year I didn't collect seed and I was sad that it might have been lost.
While picking green beans the other day, I came upon this in the bean patch.....
Yay! All is not lost. I shall collect seeds this year.
Please tell me how you collected viable seeds from this plant.
After the flower fades there will be seed pods form on top and once they get mature, like turn from green to tannish, just collect the pods and the black seeds are inside.