LOOK! DO YOU SEE? ARE YOU AS EXCITED AS ME? If so, go calm down, jeez, it’s only seeds. THAT ARE GROWING!!! Well, I’m allowed to be excited, THEY’RE MY SEEDS THAT I PLANTED THAT ARE GROWING! You, well, YOU being that excited.. it’s a little weird. Get a grip, yo.
But let’s take a closer look. Just FYI, each little section goes like this: first 2, left to right, is salvia: red in back, purple in front. Next FOUR sections, front and back are pink impatiens. that leaves the last 2 sections, which are day lilies.

So do you see what I’m seeing? The red salvia are coming up nicely. The front however, looks like nothing is coming up. This sucks. Since we can see the red salvia coming up, and the seeds are nearly identical, I can only assume that the purple salvia seeds I collected weren’t viable. Darn. Obviously, they’ll still be there for the next few weeks, so there’s still time, but it’s not looking good.

Next, the middle sections of impatiens. When I was planting them I got all concerned that the seeds wouldn’t grow, so I was tossing a ton into each well, and .. well, they’re all coming up, baby! I hope I like these plants, cause it looks like I’ll have a ton! Why might I not like them, you wonder?

Think back to your biology days when they talked about genetics and heredity and the blue eyed mom and the brown eyed dad might still have the green eyed child. The plants that I planted in my garden last year were from a local nursery (ok, it was Lowes) and were likely hybrid, meaning, that they were the careful offspring of 2 different plants to create a carefully controlled outcome, like the pink flowers they had. Or, they weren’t hybrids, they were a carefully controlled “true” plant, that is a direct descendent and their parents had the same characteristics as far as the eye can see. Either way, they weren’t anymore! Now they were in my yard! Out of a controlled environment! Where any old pollen could come floating along on the legs of any old butterfly and WHO KNOWS WHAT WILL HAPPEN! they could have been pollenated by some impatiens 3 blocks away! So basically, these offspring may or may not look like the plants that I saw last year. Honestly, they were pink, and I’m not so hot on the pink, so I’ll be all up for some new mixed up color zaniness. they could all get together and be zany and I could film it for a new hit sitcom. It’ll be just my luck that they’ll all turn up.. pink.

So, back to my flat. Impatiens. CHECK.

The last two sections are day lilies. Looking these two sections over, I grew all sad and mopey and thought about how they don’t seem to be growing… Until I thought about the seeds themselves. Compared to impatiens and salvia, they are huge, first of all. They are also have a very hard, shiny shell. So… in a very non-professional gardener way, I dug one up to see if it had done anything. (I’m sure that’s highly recommended. Dig up your seeds! Don’t let them alone to grow in peace, dig ’em up and check ’em out!) And it had! It had a teeny teeny TEENY tiny shoot sticking out of it. I stuck it back in to finish sprouting. (This is a highly professional gardening act, and should not be performed without the aid of a bioagribotonist. Oh how I kill myself.) These suckers are definitely doing something, they are just taking longer.

I took a picture of the teeny shoot, but unfortunately I’m always taking these day to day pictures at the end of the day when it’s dark and the light is non existent, and well, it didn’t turn out.

So there you go. My update on the seeds.

I ordered my raspberry plants last week also, did I tell you? They are shipping this week, along with some strawberry plants too. I’m so ready for all the lovely warm spring. Definitely need to do the rototillering stuff next weekend. I’m going to have raspberry bushes planted next to my deck, with I think some impatiens next, and then day lilies. I need something that will be dead (an annual, I mean, aren’t I wonderful with the techno gardening terms? “need to be dead.” good lord.) at the end of the year next to the raspberry bushes so I can just rototill right down the row of them, otherwise they will throw out shoots and spread like the weeds that they are, so impatiens sounds nice.

So did I tell you? IT MIGHT SNOW TOMORROW. HAHA! It’s like nature is being all sarcastic to us. Silly nature. Just makes me glad I have started some seeds inside — I really should start some others, but I still am all kerflummoxed on WHAT to grow. I really do love how my impatiens looked last year, so I think I may buy some seeds of white, or maybe purple, and start those. I could easily use up another flat, maybe two, of impatiens, and if I don’t, I could probably give them away, or sell them at the spring yard sale (ooh, i wonder when that is).

On other non-gardening news, I have so much to do, and so much that I WANT to do, that it is tough to actually do anything. what I really need to do is clean out my pantry, it is positively abysmal. there is also tons of laundry to fold, dirty dishes in the kitchen to take care of, and the happy birthday banner for Jocelyn’s party is still hanging up in the entryway.

So instead of doing any of that, I sat down and browsed and researched and lusted over the Canon EOS 20D and 30D (which is *this close* to shipping), browsed around again for the zillionth time looking for a photography class and wrote all this gardening blather here instead 🙂 And now, I think I’m going to head to bed early to fight back against this scratchy sand-papery feeling in my throat.

– amy whispers in a low throaty voice, “Check out my… sprouts.”