Sidewalk Seeds

When I was a couple of years into rewilding, I started collecting seeds during my walks through the neighborhood, mostly in late spring/early summer. I think of these as "sidewalk seeds", but most of them may have come from the street. These seeds would go to waste without help - nothing germinates in pavement. Even if they find cracks, cars will destroy them.

I never took seeds from someone's yard. Many of these little plots were self seeding, like bluebonnets, and sometimes I would just toss the seeds from the street back into the yard. I even took some street bluebonnet seeds into an open area near a creek to try to spread the love.

These seeds are likely to grow in your neighborhood, since the parent plant has been successful enough to produce seeds. But be careful you know what you're getting. Invasives are also very successful - that's why they wreak such havoc. And you don't want those in your yard.

Some of the seeds I picked up: Bluebonnets, Mexican petunia, Cosmos (pictured), Larkspur. Only the Mexican petunia didn't germinate. Later, some petunias volunteered in the corner of the yard and have been spreading on their own. Maybe they needed some help from a bird's digestive system. Thank you, birds!

Cosmos seeds