Ah, yes, the tiny teeny itsy bitsy seeds. Just don't sneeze!!

My favourites are the Buddleia seeds (Butterfly Bush). They actually look like the tiniest splinters of wood you've ever seen, but if you look right in the middle of one of those splinters, you'll see the smallest seed. I actually took out a magnifying glass one day to see where the seeds were in there. Thought a trader had sent me all chaff, but that wasn't the case.

I find harvesting most small seeds quite easy. Just take the stem with the seed heads on it, place in a bag, leave to dry for a couple of days, then close the top of the bag and shake. When the pods open, the seeds all come out and with the shaking you'll find them all at the bottom of the bag.

There's a possibility that the two colours of seeds you have indicate different colours of flowers. Either that or some seeds are not as mature as others.

Have fun! Oh, and DO NOT sneeze!! :O)

LOL...I'm not even breathing on them let along sneeze!

Thanks for pointing out the brown vs black seeds may be different color flowers. I'll plant both and mark the containers & list accordingly.

LOL! I remember my first year of WS, when I opened a pack of trailing lobelia - I got all ticked off and was ready to contact the company and tell them they had sent me a pack of dust! Saved myself being embarassed by doing a little online research first ...

My method for picking up a few of those dust like seeds is to put a bit on a plate, shake the plate to get them to spread a little, then breathe on my index finger and press on a few seeds. The humidity from my breath makes the seeds stick to my finger. I rub by thumb and index finger together to flake them off into the potting mix. That is if I have not gone blind staring at the little things. I think I'm starting to need a big magnifying glass like my grandmother always had. Maybe I'm not really as young as I think I am.

LOL...glad to hear I'm not the only one with this situation. Thought it was just me being my usual klutzy self!

This is definitely something I'm going to have to do when no one else is around. Now I know why people do this late at night aside from that being the time work and chores are done for the day.

I've already got contact lenses and reading glasses going to try and see these little buggers so don't think I'm far from getting one of those big magnifying glasses either!

Hopefully this WS'ing will up my patience level...as if.

But I still plan on getting more seeds. :)

I sometimes mix corn meal with those small seeds. That kind of spreads them around and then I just sow the mix and hope for the best.

I do the same as liza07831 except I use fine sand. Not only does it make them easier to spread, but you can SEE where you spread them.

Some seed just has color variations normally.

Ever use fingernails as scoops? Scrape up a seed or two with whatever digit is most comfortable and use your thumbnail to push them off again. Alright, most gardeners have no nails to speak of, but I consider them too vital of tools to cut to the quick. How else does one peel oranges or give the cat a good scratch??

LOL @ thorndncr! That's the way I do it!