Autumn is the season for broadcasting seed in the garden. Gardeners and botanists appreciate the function of the ripening seed pods in dispersing plant genetic information through the airways and onto the ground for future generations of flora. The shapes, textures, colors and designs of pods make them objects of art in the autumn landscape and objects of wonder for children.
Children enjoy collecting natural objects. The dry, fruiting body of a plant containing seed, its pod, is one collectible. Many plant families gift the garden with pods. Searching for pods can be a family adventure.
- Start in the yard where you’re apt to find long dangly pods of the legume family among the ornamental and edible vegetables like scarlet runner and hyacinth beans or pole, green, and edamame beans. The Japanese wisteria vine and mimosa tree, also members of the bean family, produce a bean-like pod.
- Peanuts are the underground legume whose pod we harvest to enjoy the protein packed seed or groundnut. One of the fastest growing legumes, Kudzu, is not welcome in most yards.
- The milkweed family is often present in a butterfly garden. Milkweed pods are popular for making dried decorations and ornaments or toys like milkweed mice.
- Hibiscus family members contribute okra and cotton pods useful in decorative craft projects. Make okra Santa ornamentsand cotton boll angels for your holiday tree.
- Pepper pods from the nightshade family make long-lasting useful dried chili pepper wreaths, garlands and ristras to add flavor to cooking throughout the year. Distinctive chili pepper gift tags bring warm greetings.
- In the final phase of the growing cycle, roses produce the rose hip, a pod containing seeds. After tiny fibers and seeds are removed, the ripened pod is used to make tea and jam. Hips add flavor to applesauce, soups, stews, and syrups also.
- The poppy family has a cylindrical or ball-shaped seed pod with a flat top. Poppy pods dry easily and are long lasting so they are popular in dried flower arrangements and crafts.
- Mustard family pods have a variety of shapes. Many are bean-shaped but the honesty plant, Lunaria annua, is distinctive in being flat, translucent and silver. The silver-dollar plant pods make attractive dried displays.
- The trumpet creeper family contributes large pods on the trumpet vine and the catalpa or cigar tree. Both plants are easily propagated from dry seed. Children will enjoy planting these seeds in the yard like a squirrel would do with nuts.
- One of the loveliest garden annuals, love-in-a-mistin the buttercup family, has a balloon-shaped green seed pod with burgundy stripes. The beautiful pods are used in dried arrangements.
- Soapberry family members like the golden raintree and the heart vine yield decorative pods – clusters of brownish raintree vessels and the green and brown papery husks on the heart vine.
- The soapwort plant in the carnation family yields a green soap when leaves are rubbed under water. The pink or white flowers bear a green capsule pod which turns brown before releasing numerous seed.
- The loosestrife family produces ruffled flowers of the crepe myrtle followed by dark round decorative seed pods on terminal growth. Seed-eating birds like cardinals often visit these pods in fall and winter. Some gardeners collect the tiny seeds by placing small sections of pantyhose over the pods.
As you discover the podcasts in your garden and beyond, share the silent messages nature plays before our eyes. Gather the pods for holiday crafts and gift giving. Celebrate the season by making pod bouquets, podquets, for friends and neighbors.
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