Seeds for Another Season

Over the past several years morning glory plants have been among those gracing my back yard.  At first, the seeds were purchased from a local store in convenient packets.  I've tried a variety of colors ranging from white and light pink to blue and a deep purple. 

As my love of flower gardening has increased, I've started dabbling into collecting seeds in the fall to save over winter for planting in the spring.  Such was the case last year with the morning glories.  With our house needing new siding, my husband asked if I could plant the morning glories in a different location.  If planted in their usual spot by the back door, they would be in the way if the siding project got underway.  I found a new spot across the yard, broke up the soil, and added some potting mix to give them a good start.  The saved seeds were planted, and they ended up providing lots of beauty over the summer months.

 

With the forecast indicating a possibility of frost, I decided it was time to once again look for the seeds to save.  Morning glories are actually quite fascinating to observe.  As the flower buds start to appear, the petals are wrapped in a sideways fashion, and open when the sun hits them in the morning.  As noon approaches, however, the petals curl back up, but in a different direction, this time from the top of the petals inward like this:

 

 

As the petals subsequently dry up, a pod develops and begins the process of creating seeds.  They grow in clusters with a white membrane surrounding them.  As the seeds mature, the white turns to brown, and eventually the brown pops open, allowing the seed to drop to the earth.  For my purposes, it is best to find the brown pods.  This tells me the seeds are developed, and are ready to be harvested.  Here are pictures of the developing pods, a brown one ready to open, and what it looks like after the plant has given up the seed on its own:

 

 

 

Gathering as many seeds as I could, I then brought them indoors and went to work removing the seeds from the pods.  Here are some close up shots of the pod before and after I squeezed them to remove the seeds:

 

There is now an ample supply of seeds to be tucked away through the winter, ready to provide another round of beauty next summer:

 

As I worked with the seeds, I found myself thinking about the seeds of God's love we are sowing into the lives of children every Wednesday night at our church.  A Bible story, verses to memorize, songs, hugs, and kind words combine as seeds, which may or may not immediately sprout.  The important thing is the seeds are tucked in place, ready to grow when God's appointed time arrives.

 

The empty pods seemed to be a representation of how we often feel after a session is over.  We are tired, emotionally drained, and possibly wondering if our efforts have been worth it.  As I throw the empty pods away, they are a reminder our work may be done, but the hope in the seed remains.

 

 

One final lesson awaits me just outside my back door.  Although this year no seeds were planted by me, the recent fall rains have caused many small morning glory plants to sprout.  Apparently some of last year's seeds fell to the ground, yet remained dormant until the ideal conditions produced the new life.  What does this tell me?  It reminds me we never know when or where those godly seeds we plant might develop.  A child may move, time may pass, but the seed is there.  We trust God will, in His time, bring forth the beauty, and another harvest of seeds!

 

 

It's not important who does the planting,

or who does the watering.

What's important is that God makes the seed grow.

1 Corinthians 3:7 (NLT)