I bought a common red one on sale last year at Farmer's Market and it did very well in that hot drought summer, but I only bought the one plant which I planted rather late during the hot time of year. It bloomed non stop and tripled in size pretty fast. The leaves are very rough and it looks tough. I left it in the ground untrimmed since it was said to be marginally hardy but it didn't winter over. I have had luck with many other plants overwintering that are listed at zone 8 though so I always test the iffy ones outdoors.

Some seed dropped but I didn't get any volunteer seedlings. I do see seeds on the Seed Exchange Forum fairly often, you might try a trade. I've never tried it from seed myself.

Thank you GP. I looked on line for seed vendors but didn't find much. I saw the plant for sale last spring but I think it was in a hanging basket and too expensive to suit me. It was very pretty in the garden center bed so it will be something for me to look for next year.

Helen, if you are the adventurous type you could try to get a few seeds off that plant at the garden center. Whenever it looks kosher I do that even though my husband always chides me. His mother used to always say when it came to plants "If its stolen it will live", she was very colorful and grandmotherly. We used to think of this as propagation and spreading beauty that would otherwise be lost. I remind him of this since her and I used to do this sort of thing at places like Will Rogers Park in the fall. No one ever arrested us.

I noticed the seeds were located in the dried flowers at the base sort of like they are on salvias but not every one had a seed. If you try an envelope, you might get a few to drop in.

This post was edited by GreatPlains1 on Mon, Sep 23, 13 at 18:22

I had to laugh. I am guilty but only if I feel the seeds would just fall to the ground and be wasted. I have also taken broken pieces of plants that have fallen to the ground for cuttings. My mother who was the most honest person I know would pull up plants on the side of the road. In Washington State we kept trying to pull up this yellow flowering plant. Finally my parents stopped I ran in to ask if we could dig some up. The person agreed but kind of snickered. Then we kept smelling a skunk. The plant is call skunk cabbage.

Too late for that garden center also it was very busy selling pumpkins and fall decorations. If I find some more at a garden center I will look for seeds or since it isn't hardy try to strike a deal of some sort.

Here is a link that might be useful: skunk cabbage

Helen glad to know you are a cool person. My sister and I got a boatload of liatris last fall that we dug from the shoulder of a country road out in Kansas. This woman came out and laughed at us when we told her what we were up to. "Digging weeds?" she says. It ended up that my sister knew her son from teaching grade school and they recognized each other. We got some Azure Salvia and a couple of Lead plants too. It was a blast. That was funny about the skunk cabbage, we probably would have tried to dig that too.

Those liatris are blooming like crazy right now in my garden and I love them. I must have come home with 20 good sized corms. I'm still waiting for the Azure Salvia to set bud but its next.

I always carry scissors for cuttings and little baggies for seeds around in the car. You just never know when you will need them. An ink pen for labeling is another good thing because I forget whats what sometimes.

I have one right now! I'll be happy to look for seeds tonight!!

Thank you trees. I am beginning to wonder if what I am seeing is one of those improved plants because I haven't found a seed vendor. I have a wonderful cleome this year that is one of those improved plants I may try to keep it inside this winter although my basement is usually full of plants.

Here is a link that might be useful: cleome I love

Update

I have checked the plant and figured out I'm unsure what to look for! Any advice as to where the seeds would be? :)

Christina

I don't know but I am puzzled about why I don't find the seed for sale. Maybe they are propagating them by cuttings.