NATURAL COLLECTION

As blooms fade leaving delicate seedheads in their place, thoughts can turn to collecting seeds to sow next year

- RACHEL CROW

As autumn descends and the garden slowly turns through its fiery seasonal hues, venture into the garden on a treasure hunt. Augmenting your garden's blooms from its own bounty - by propagating plants from seeds-is both economical and one of the most rewarding aspects of gardening. It is so satisfying to see the young plants you've created and nurtured grow and add to your garden stock,' explains garden writer Leigh Clapp.

Honesty, foxgloves, alliums, nigella, poppies, calendula, zinnias, sunflowers.... many of the enduringly popular garden annuals, perennials and biennials generously offer up their seeds to sow and scatter around your flower beds.

By late summer into autumn, most seeds will be waiting for you to gather, naturally packaged in pods, cones, berries, catkins, capsules, nuts, winged seed or exploding seedheads.