I saved about 10 different kinds of seeds this year including some blue lake beans. Surprisingly they were my biggest challenge. Those that matured wanted to rot but I did get a few. Wait until the pods turn brown. The pod will hold the seeds. You don't need the stocking.

Poodlepro's advice is what works for me too. In summer, in fact, I've been known to break a piece off, stick it in the ground, maybe water it, maybe not. And, voila, they survive and thrive! I haven't tried the water method. I don't use rooting hormone. Well, I did use it twice, with terrible results. For the seeds, you should just be able to collect them into paper envelopes. I have a bunch I collected into a pie tin last autumn, am going to try sowing them now. (Winter sowing- my first.) Also will try sowing some in my cool sunroom. But haven't grown pellies from seed before, so I'm winging it. For a couple of years, I've taken cuttings of my pellies in the fall, grown them in the cool sunroom over the winter. But this last season, they got rust really badly, so I really reduced the stock, and am being vigilant for signs of rust. They got the rust after being moved outside in spring. Very wet year here. Everything had fungus, rust, yuck! Good luck with yours.

I have been doing prairie plating for over 30 years and experiment with many so called difficult native seed. This is what I know about all the gentians in zone five area. Collect bottle gentian pods just after they have faded and have turned brown but before the pod opens all the way. The pod is ripe when the top opens slightly. Gentian seed should never dry out. This is the key to all the gentians. I put them in a plastic ziplock bag so they stay moist. I take them home open the pods and then add moist ( not wet) sand to the seed and put them in the fridge until its time to sow. You will find a lot of the pods of seed contain small worms that eat the seed just discard them as you open the pods. The seed can be kept in the fridge but after about three months they can start to germinate in the bag so I usually sow them before the snow flys. I have grown the stratified gentian after two months in the fridge but they are very slow growing and it is just easier to sow where you want them. I have grown thousands on restorations this way. This also works for all the gentians. Never let the seed dry out. Good luck.

Hibiscus Seed Capsules Seed saving is a lot of fun and it's easy to do! This is how I do it....and these are general and universal instructions. Mother Nature is pretty easy to figure out if we keep with the idea that SHE needs to keep it simple too. Take a good look at a flower. When the flower fades leave it where it is, do not remove it. Eventually at the base of the flower there will be some swelling. This is where the seeds are forming. Do keep the petals where they are and let them fall naturally...I don't touch it or bother it, I just leave it be. The base of the flower will swell even more and soon you'll notice that the flower stem and the swollen base are turning a papery-brown. This is a very good indication that the seeds are almost fully ripe....in effect the plant has achieved it's goal of reproduction for that flower...it has produced viable seeds and no longer needs to expend energy to keep it alive, so it doesn't sends it's sugars and water up to the stem anymore. That's why it's turning papery-brown. It's no longer being supplied with nutrients and so it's dying back. The drying action will continue and as the swollen pod continues to dry you will see it start to open....some pods will open in a starry design, plants like poppies create a ridge of tiny little circles near the top of the pod....they make themselves into something like a little "salt-shaker" (sorta...but you could imagine it.) All flower pods will open in some manner when the seeds are ripe....it's so they can disperse their seeds. When you see that the pods and stems are both brownish in color, AND you notice that the pods are starting to open you can then collect the pods. I place the pods on an open plate or in open bowls in a safe place where they won't be disturbed and let them continue to dry naturally for another week or two. Then I remove the seeds from them. To assure that the seeds are thoroughly dry I let them dry on an open plate for a few more days...I even will stir them every now and then to make sure the bottom layers will get a chance to dry too. Storing the dried seeds is easy. I use paper envelopes. I make my own with my printer, but you could use coin envelopes or even mailing envelopes will do fine too. Label them so you know what's inside. Store them where they'll be away from heat or direct sunlight. I use cardboard file boxes to keep my seeds in and those do just fine. Another good place to keep them is in your dining room drawers. Those are dark places and your dining room is sure to be safe from extreme fluctuations in temperature. Good luck with your seed saving! Trudi