Oklahoma is a place that I mention often in my writing. It was one of those very few places outside of California that I had always wanted to go to. After actually going there seven years ago, I want to go back to see what another season besides autumn is like. The flora there was so fascinating and unfamiliar. In the short time I was there, I collected seed of several species. Amazingly, most seed were viable a few years after collection.
1. Seed ~ was collected in these old pill bottles. These seed are not really from Oklahoma. They are mostly from canna, and were collected more recently. Collecting seed can be a bad habit.
2. Yucca glauca ~ seed was collected at a truck stop in New Mexico on the way to Oklahoma, where it is also native. I found a shoot of Yucca arkansana in Oklahoma, but it did not survive.
3. Sapindus saponaria ~ seed was found hanging over a fence from a backyard into an alley in Norman. The ‘seedling’ on the left grew from a root that broke from the seedling on the right.
4. Diospyros virginiana ~ happened to be in season while we were there in November and December. The small persimmons are very different from Japanese sorts, and loaded with seeds.
5. Cercis canadensis ~ is the state tree of Oklahoma. Supposedly, the variety that grows wild there is ‘Texensis’. Several native plants are named for places where they were first identified.
6. Juniperus virginiana ~ was not grown from seed, but gathered as wild seedlings. It is unpopular among those more familiar with it, and for good reason. I, however, am unfamiliar with it.
This is the link for Six on Saturday, for anyone else who would like to participate:
https://thepropagatorblog.wordpress.com/2017/09/18/six-on-saturday-a-participant-guide/
Tony Tomeo 
Good seed collecting, I approve!
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Than you! Not many would understand the allure of such species, especially the Juniperus virginiana.
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I know spring is your busy season and you probably won’t get a chance to visit then. It’s quite lovely in the spring–or perhaps I am always so appreciative because I usually just barely get there because I am escaping a snowstorm back here in the frozen north.
One year I visited the botanic garden in Oklahoma City. It has recently been redone. Everything inside was in bloom as well, even in the cacti section. It was amazing. My sister and I stayed as long as we could but it was one of those early warm days out there so it was 110 inside the glass houses. Still gorgeous!
Karla
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All seasons are busy here, and winter is probably the busiest. By spring, most of the hard work is done, and things slow down slightly. (When growing rhododendrons, much of the stock is already shipped to retail nurseries before it blooms in spring. Much of my arboricultural work is done while trees are dormant in winter, but can not be done while trees are most vascularly active in spring.)
The Myriad Gardens was still under construction when we left, just before New Year’s Day 2013. The new Devon Tower had a big New Year’s Day party, and people were already touring the Myriad Gardens, even though their Grand Opening was to be a bit later. Goodness! I SO want to go back to Oklahoma!
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Nice collection. Cercis has many attributes, one of which is its soft, buttery yellow fall foliage. It’s really contrasting nicely with other trees right now in my yard. A photo next week, perhaps…
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Ours usually lack such color because autumn weather is so mild here. They happen to color well when other trees do not. A long time ago, people planted them believing that they were native like the Western redebud is. The Western redbud grows as a big shrub, and does not live as long. ‘Forest Pansy’ is a cultivar that is something of a fad right, but it is one that I dislike.
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Yes, seed collecting can be addictive! Your results are great though. Love the cercis. 🙂
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Thank you. The Cercis is one that could actually end up in a landscape somewhere. At least one, and probably two will go into my own garden. The others, although very welcome in my garden, are not so practical for other landscape situation. Yuccas should be more popular here than they are, but there are species that are better than Yucca glauca.
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Nice choice ! We all have bad habit of collecting seeds..
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Yes, but most of collect seeds that are actually useful. Mine are only useful because they make me happy.
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