Superstar Self-Seeding Plants: 8 of the Best You Can Let Self-Seed – Plus, A Few That You Shouldn’t Leave
Self-seeding plants are a fabulous way to fill out your garden year after year with little effort.
Plants that self seed are a gardener’s dream… or nightmare. Plants you want to self-seed will save you time and money, but those you do not want to reseed may cost you time and money to remove them. Knowing which plants tend to reseed easily and whether they are garden thugs will help you plan for your garden.
There are many ornamental plants, herbs, and even vegetables that reseed. Some need a favorable environment to reseed, such as well-drained, fertile soil, and mild winters. Others seem to self-seed where they drop, regardless of the conditions. Birds and wind, too, help disperse the seeds, so you may find plants all over the place.
If you want to manage self-seeders, you can harvest the seeds yourself before they drop (our editors love the Felco 2 pruning shears from Amazon for deadheading and pruning). Watch for the ripening seeds in late summer or fall and collect them when they mature, usually when they turn dark brown. Plant them where you want them or hold them over till spring.
8 Great Self-Seeding Plants for Your Garden
Many vegetables, such as tomatoes and squash, may return the next year, although hybrid plants won’t be the same as the parent. Herbs, such as parsley, dill, fennel, chamomile, and cilantro drop seeds that easily grow. Self-seeding plants may take a while to appear in gardens. Many will not germinate and grow until the soil heats up.
Here are the best self-seeding plants to add to your garden.
Annuals
1. Borage
Borage (Borago officinalis) is an all-purpose herb with superstar qualities. It isn’t bothered by pests and disease, it is a great companion plant for veggies, it attracts pollinators, blooms all summer, and is edible! It self seeds readily, but if it gets out of hand, the seedlings pull up easily and can be composted. Seeds develop when the flower petals drop off.
2. Larkspur
Larkspur (Consolida ajacis) is one of those plants that once you grow it, you will welcome its tall pink, blue, white, or purple flower spikes every summer. Rich, well drained soil in full sun is its preferred environment to return. The slender seed pods rattle when the seeds are dry if you brush against them. Pull the stems up, crush the seedpods open and shake them over your garden.
3. Mexican Sunflower
Mexican sunflower (Tithonia rotundifolia) is prized for its bright orange, daisy-like flowers on tall, branching stems. Tithonia is a favorite of hummingbirds, butterflies, and bees, and once discovered by hummers, they will guard it as their own. If some of the flowers are left to go to seed, they will form after the petals drop. Squirrels and birds may eat the seeds, so leave plenty to reseed, or collect them from the seed head. It may not show up till mid-summer, so do not give up.
Biennial/Perennial
4. California Poppy
California poppy (Eschscholzia californica) feels right at home in loamy, well-drained soil. It is a short-lived perennial with ferny foliage and orange, cup-shaped flowers that work well in the front of the border or in rock gardens. After flowering, elongated seed pods form. Leave them on the plant till the seeds turn dark brown. When ripe, the seed pod splits, ejecting the seeds from the plant.
5. Parsley
Parsley (Petroselinum crispum) is a biennial herb grown for its nutrient-rich, flavorful leaves that look attractive tucked in among other plants. Seeds are formed the second year after flowering. If left undisturbed, seeds mature and drop. Parsley is a host plant for the Eastern Black Swallowtail butterfly so you may see its caterpillars munching on the plant. Be sure to grow extra!
6. Purple Coneflower
Purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) is another superstar plant with medicinal qualities; a pollinator favorite; lovely, daisy-like dark-pink flowers, and food for birds. After flowering, seeds form in the center cone. Finches relish the seeds and may beat you to them. The plant readily self seeds so be prepared. The clump also expands.
7. Sea Holly
Sea holly (Eryngium planum) is a self-seeding perennial plant with a rigid stem structure and unusual, spiky, blue flower heads. It blooms all summer, and butterflies frequent the unique flowers. It will grow in poor, dry soil and works well in a cottage or rock garden or in containers. You can deadhead the faded blooms, but leave some alone to go to seed.
8. Tall Verbena
Tall verbena (Verbena bonariensis) is a tender perennial that is hardy in USDA zones 7-11. It readily self seeds in colder climates. Pollinators love the tiny purple flowers borne on tall, stiff stems. Tall verbena could be moved below to the thug list because it is on the invasive plant list in Georgia and Oregon.
Plants You Should NOT Leave to Self-Seed
Some plants are best deadheaded to prevent reseeding, or if that is too time consuming, just avoid the plants altogether. While the plants may be endearing in small amounts, the adage “too much of a good thing” applies here. The plants may be invasive and listed on state or national do-not-plant lists. They may take over your yard, choke out nearby plants, or displace native flora.
Here are a few self-seeding garden plants on the “Be sure to deadhead list.”
1. Bachelor Buttons
Bachelor Buttons (Centaurea cyanus) is an easy-to-grow, cool-season annual with striking blue flowers. It attracts butterflies and works well in an area for naturalizing or in a container to help control the reseeding. It is listed on the Washington state Education List of Obnoxious Weeds.
2. Columbine
Columbine (Aquilegia spp.) is a popular spring flowering perennial but it produces a voluminous amount of seed that will pop up as new plants everywhere in succeeding years. It is a worthwhile plant to have and is an early pollinator plant, but make sure to deadhead the seedpods that form if you don’t want to spend a lot of time removing plants.
3. Forget-Me-Nots
Forget-Me-Nots (Myosotis spp.) produce enchanting blue flower bouquets, but its rampant reseeding will have you pulling out your hair as well as blue flower bouquets. There are several varieties and some are more behaved than others, but they reproduce by seeds as well as underground rhizomes. The woodland species, M. sylvatica, is considered an aggressive weed.
4. Obedient Plant
Obedient Plant (Physostegia virginiana) is not as obedient as the name implies. It reproduces by stolons as well as seed so you get a double whammy. It is a U.S. native that is characterized as aggressive. Fortunately, it pulls up easily when you need to lessen the load.
5. Sweet Autumn Clematis
Sweet Autumn Clematis (Clematis terniflora) is a true garden thug that should not be planted. In late summer to fall, it produces a copious amount of seeds from fluffy seedpods that start new plants all over the yard - in the lawn, climbing up trees and shrubs, and covering everything it touches. If you grow it, be sure to cut it back in the fall before it goes to seed.
