Columbine seeds

Hi all, I am a new member and also fairly new to Gardening in general. I have a white columbine in my garden that I inherited from the previous owner which a friend has asked me to collect some seeds for her. Some have pods which are still green, how do I harvest them please? Many thanks to anyone who can help! I've attached a picture of the plant in question.

 

Welcome to Gardeners Corner

When the seeds are ripe, the pods will open at the top, easy to tip them out then

Bear in mind the seeds are very poisonous though

 

Thank you very much Zigs. Oh gosh, I didn't know that (although I didn't actually know what the plant was until my mother told me!). Should I be worried with 3 kids, 2 cats and a dog in the house/garden? Are the seeds big enough that they could eat them?

 

Your pets should be fine.
Not sure if it is the done thing nowadays, but I was taught that nothing from the garden should be eaten, unless I was told it WAS safe to do so.... (Veg bed was a bit of a grey area on this rule) certainly, many seeds and berries are not good to eat, so probably a general "no!" is a good starting point!

Re-reading that, makes me feel very old!!

 

Kids like the seed pods as they rattle when they're dry, didn't eat any when I was a kid, did put some odd things in me mouth though.

Privet leaves taste 'orrible I seem to remember

 

Hi Lucyloo and welcome to GC. Also bear in mind that the seeds might not come up as white columbine. I have a white one in my garden but the parent plant was pink

 

I think Shiney pointed out they'll cross with any others in Bee distance

 

Thanks everyone, my 2 oldest kids are well aware that they shouldn't eat anything in the garden but my youngest is 16 months and a terror, caught her trying to eat the sand in the Sand pit at the weekend. I do feed her, honestly! As you will see from my profile pic, we also have a chocolate lab who is a walking stomach. I shall only leave a couple of pods that are well out of reach to be safe. I didn't know about the colours being different either, this friend only wanted the seeds because she doesn't have a white columbine. I will let her know they may not turn out white. Thanks again everyone.