you need a plan ...

most weed seeds.. and the ones you actually want.. need sunlight .. or to be basically on the surface to sprout in spring ....

as you suspect... bury them .. and they wont return ...

but i think timing is your problem... why are you waiting until spring ....

go buy a pack of paper lunch bags and a sharpie pen ...

and when the seeds mature... put them in the bag.. and label it .... and stick them in the garage .... leave the top open so they can dry ....

in fall as the annuals go down for fall/winter... remove plants .. add compost.. the sprinkle the seeds on top .. and mark the area so you will hopefully remember that you put them there ...

in the alternative... cut the maturing plants... and lay the whole plant in a bed you wont work on.. and leave the whole thing there until spring.. and when you move it in spring.. all the babes will be under it ... and you can move them to the newly composted beds...

many solutions ... if you just think out the whole process ...

ken

If youa re using compost mulch, they l8ikely will manage to set seeds in that. And if you are doing it in the spring, your reseeders should be showing by then, and you leave off the mulch until they are big enough to move or pulch around.
At least that's the way it works for me with the larkspur and the feverfew and the echinacea.
Linda c

Thanks Linda and Ken. All three suggestions are good and implementable.

Linda, I don't think you have to baby the feverfew-- I've been trying to get rid of it for years, and even when I moved out of my townhouse where I container gardened (and had planted ONE ff in a rose container, then tried to eradicate it for years from every other...), and replanted all the container plants, the feverfew found its way to the most remote areas of every garden.

J