I would re-think the early harvest of the unripened balsam. The seeds should be brown and the pods explode with a light squeeze. The pods tend to go from a light green to a light yellow and become somewhat translucent when ready.

On the harvest issue, I am on Amsonia right now. Although it's a beautiful native spring bloomer, the pods need to ripen all summer. When they turn brown and split, it's time to harvest.

The list gets longer every day. Here's what I've gathered so far:

White turtlehead
Gloriosa daisy
Feverfew
Shasta daisy
Tall phlox
Sweet William
Penstemon
Blanket flower
Wand flower
Echinacea
Balloon flower
Rose campion
Maltese cross
Ladybells
Lobelia
Coral bells
Lupine
Hosta
Dogwood
Columbine
Cupid's dart
Blackberry lily
Verbascum
Spirea

...plus a few others. The pink turtlehead and Painters Palette persicaria are still blooming so I'm guessing those won't have ripe seeds for a few more weeks. I wouldn't have gathered the dogwood tree seeds except with all the rain we had this year, they're the size of grapes!

I spent most of the day today cleaning seeds, running them through a colander & sieve to remove as much chaff as possible. After that I use tweezers to remove any particles that get that far. I sit in a lawn chair pulled up to the tailgate of my truck. It's my perfect potting bench!

been collecting seeds from the gardens for several months now, just grabbing them as the are ready.
But so far should have plenty of the following.

balsam impatiens dark pink
marigold disco flame
cosmos daiblo
cosmos sunset
candylily/blackberry lily
zinnia zahara teatime rose
zinnia zowie yellow flame
lupine blue/purple
common large leaf hosta
some mixed hybrid daylily
pink disco belle
queen anne's lace
several kinds of morning glory

tomato sungold, black cherry, cherokee purple, white wonder, tiny tim, warren's yellow cherry

burpee bush cucumber
dill
and more to come to collect

Fran

I've got toppling over paper cups all over my kitchen. Some I can remember collecting without getting up to go look are:

Mellies
Snow on the mountain
Tall strawflower
Rose campion
Lobelia (Red, blue and purple)
Yvones Salvia
Nicotiana
Dianthus
Heurachura "Palace Purple" and Dale's Strain
Joe Pye