A gift of seeds

My black hollyhock taught me a lot about seed saving.She grew each year from a clump of seedlings into towering stalks decked with such deep purple flowers that they border on near black. They were grown from seeds gleaned from the gardens of Thomas Jefferson's Monticello and remain today my easiest and most fertile plant.When the flowers fade, the hollyhock produces quarter-sized rings of tightly packed flat round seeds. Bound in a papery outer covering, they remain on the stalk until they ripen from green to gray, then the whole thing collapses and seeds are scattered naturally for the next year. I collect them just before this disintegration.These plants grow so easily from seed that I give a good percentage of them away as holiday gifts to fellow gardeners. This heirloom variety grown in an organic garden is a truly "green" holiday gift from my garden.Once the seeds are collected, I use two types of containers. The first is for long-term storage and the second is an attractive container used for gifts.The gift jars can be free or nearly so if you know how to spot them. My favorites for the black hollyhock are the small English-jam jars from upscale-hotel breakfast trays. These are tiny, about the size of a golf ball and terribly cute, with beautifully colored lids. Because they are fully transparent after I soak off the paper labels, it's easy to tell at a glance what seeds they contain and how much.Using small recycled glass jars -- whether spice bottles, baby-food jars or cosmetics containers -- helps the environment by reducing landfill burdens. Plus, they give my gifts a unique look. Jars help ensure that the seeds remain fresh and airtight until spring.Keeping seeds fresh is important to the longevity of seed gifts. If they are exposed to moisture, rot or mildew can steal away their viability. When a jar doesn't seal tightly, you need to create a soft gasket between the lid and jar rim, just as the rubber does on a Mason jar. Cut your own gaskets out of food wrap, discarded balloons or inner tubes. A gasket should fit like a doughnut over the jar rim, yet sized to allow the lid to seal itself properly without interfering with the threads.How you present your gift will have a lot to do with the way it's received.I believe my hollyhock seeds are something quite special, and I always write out a little tag to go with them. Consider creating tags on a computer. That tag should indicate the name of the plant, where it came from and when the seeds were collected. This date is vital to knowing how long the seeds have been stored. Some seeds, such as lettuce, do not enjoy long-term viability, so dating is essential.I save raffia off gifts I receive because it makes one of the best decorating materials for these little jars. It can be bound around the neck of the jar to hold a label. All-natural tones of raffia can give the gift an earthy look; other colors can give it a more formal appearance. Raffia can even bind bits of herb or dried flower to the jar to give it a more decorative appearance.A jar of seeds is an ideal hostess gift that can be given any time. If you want something a bit more sophisticated, create a collection of your garden seeds in different-labeled jars. Pack them all in a cute salvaged box or basket with its own stylish touches. Quilting fragments or bits of fabric salvaged from worn-out clothing make an excellent basket lining and background for the seeds.The great thing about fall is that everything is going to seed. Fully ripened seeds hang on all sorts of plants, so the winds of autumn will scatter them for the spring. If you get there first and collect the seeds from your prairie coneflowers, marigolds, straw flowers, ornamental grasses and sunflowers, you can offer whole gardens of seeds for the holidays. Best of all, you'll be able to spread natural holiday cheer without spending a penny.(Maureen Gilmer is a horticulturist and host of "Weekend Gardening" on DIY Network. Contact her at her Web site www.moplants.com or visit www.diynetwork.com.)