Seed secret

The best way to open seed-bearing pods of Pride of Barbados before they open themselves and scatter the seeds every which way is to twist the pods open. A little experimentation will discover in which direction to apply pressure. I assume it's always the same direction, but I just haven't paid attention. In some years, I've just placed a ripe pod where I want a new plant to grow; in other years, I've opened the ripe and rattly pods by treating them as though they were peas, which is extremely inefficient. We started out with one very cheap, badly pruned nursery reject and have grown several more from seeds. This is the first year that any of the newbies have been mature enough to produce flowers and seed pods themselves.