So far this year is turning out to be very good in terms of getting seeds started, potted up, and set in the ground, no evil eye. I’m pretty sure that’s because of the garden plans I made this winter and the help of the gods, in particular, Saturn, who lets us know our limits, teaches discipline, and of course also rules over the riches of the Earth. This morning I put in the Day of the Dead marigold seedlings that I grew from seed I collected from the single DoD marigold I got to grow and fruit a few years ago. It was gratifying to see them so healthy looking. I was not sure that seed would be good. Note to self: marigold seed is tough.

This weekend was unseasonably warm and humid and the Sun was very intense, making working outside uncomfortable.  I did, though, manage to get the San Juan wild tobacco in. These seedlings are quite large, but unfortunately I found that they had little root development on account of the fertilizer I had been using on them. Live and learn. I grew these from seed I collected from my own plants grown for Papa Legba last year. I also put in four unmatta seedlings (looking very healthy!). Although I grew this plant last year, it was not all that happy in the partial sun area where it was growing in competition with other daturas, black nightshade, and even some volunteer black oilseed sunflowers. The unmatta’s seeds developed so late that they were moldy and I had to reorder new ones from Onalee Seeds, which I highly recommend for various datura varieties.  I am so looking forward to seeing these plants flower out front, where they have a lot of sun and where, IMO, they belong. Next to them went the large group of wild white petunias I grew from seed I harvested from my own plants a couple years ago. I have to say that I have gotten to really love white petunias. Their night-time fragrance is really rich and wonderful. They are also good-sized plants, so I look forward to getting a good seed harvest from these. I also am trying to open myself to this plant’s spirit. I have a feeling it has potential in that direction. I grew the wild purple petunia (P. integrifolia) last year but did not get the same feeling from it and it does not have the same rich scent. I wonder if that scent is a beacon not just to pollinating insects but also to us apes, letting us know that fragrant flowers indicate a plant with magical capabilities. Not sure, but something I would like to explore further.

Blue & purple columbine in my garden

Today the worst of the overcast weather passed. It’s still cloudy but not so oppressive. After the racket of lawnmowers, leaf blowers, blaring radios, howling dogs, and screaming children over the weekend, it wa blissfully quiet on my street today. I clambered around for a while in the back garden where the majority of the herbs are growing. I pulled up some volunteer variegated land cress to give the vervain a little breathing room. Looks like it got beat back quite a bit this winter, even though it was in a sheltered place. I started more plants this spring as backup, because I had a feeling.  I also yanked a ton of dyer’s chamomile; this thing will take over the world if you let it. It is even giving the mugwort a run for its money. The columbines are blooming; one of them has grown up through the patio concrete for the past couple of years and this year it has made beautiful white flowers. These plants are the ones I harvest seeds from to sell. I have loved this plant ever since I was a child and would come across wild columbines in the woods of northern Pennsylvania. Magical! All the herbs are coming back strong, although I am not sure if the elfwort has come back. There are a couple of plants that might be elfwort or might be something else just volunteering. I’ll have to wait and see.

Chervil growing beside variegated melissa and in front of wild sunflower

One of the most charming plants that came back is the chervil. Look at the delicate leaves and flowers on this thing! And magically? It’s an ingredient in kyphi.

I was eager to get out front once again and put in lots more seedlings. Some were grown from seeds I bought from Chiltern Seeds in the UK: blood-drops emlets and tassel flower (looks like they discontinued the latter). I also managed to start a goodly number of Penny Black nemophilas from seeds I bought from Select Seeds here in the US. It appears that this particular variety of black nemophila is no longer available. In fact, I have not been able to find any black nemophila seeds wholesale lately, so I thought to try my hand at growing my own. I ended up with 20 plus plants. These guys have really nice leaves that look like they were cut with a scalloping shears. I know they make a lot of flowers, so I hope I get a good seed harvest from them.  I’m trying the same thing with the scarce black pansies (now only available as hybrids) and Bowles black viola (old-fashioned open pollinated variety), but those seedlings are tiny and I am not sure if they will make it. In fact, a number of plants are still quite tiny. And there are more I have yet to start, in particular, food plants like a lot of the Asian greens. Tons of work to do!

I’ve gotten some surprises. A pot I thought was growing weeds actually has some very nice blood-drop emlets (blood-teensy-drop is more like it) mixed with some poppies of an unknown variety. The flowers are very cheerful. I also found one blood-drop emlet seedling had bloomed with a lovely pale-colored flower with good-sized blood drops. Striking! I really like these plants.

I was very pleased with the huskiness of the vervain that I grew from the seed I sell. They germinated with no preparation of any kind, despite info I have gleaned from various places that they might need a period of warmth followed by cold or straight cold stratification. But they too are mixed with some other plant–looks like poppies. I have them all over this year, but nowhere near as much as the black nightshade, which appears to be taking over the world. The other plants I got in the ground were the Artener variety of valerian, some painted daisies (Chrysanthemum carinatum), self-heal (Prunella vulgaris), the last of the angelicas (Angelica archangelica), marshmallow (Althaea officinalis), and a couple of pyrethrum daisies.

Talk about blood meal

One plant I have grown before with little success is Splash of Cream Nicandra physalodes. I have been wanting to collect seed from this plant for a long time, since it is not available wholesale. This is my third time trying it, and this time is the charm. The plants I have growing out front are doing very well, but the real monster is in the back and is all green. That one is growing next to the daturas. It gets much more water there and that area has been a bean bed in past years, so there is plenty of natural nitrogen as well. It’s too bad that the fruits are not considered edible. The flowers are nice but last only a day and then begin forming the Chinese-lantern-like pods. They actually kind of remind me of the pods in The Thing From Another World (IMO, one of the best SF movies of all time).

The daturas are happy as clams. I had forgotten that I had planted two toloaches (D. innoxia). No flowers on those yet, but the others are blooming. I went out there this evening and it was quite nice to see the white flowers glowing in the darkness.

I also harvested all the columbine seeds, pulled up the peas, which are spent, and planted a number of different cucumbers in their place against the patio trellis. I still have a lot more stuff that I need to get into pots, but that can, thankfully, be done in the shade of the patio. And I have two strips to finish up front with retilling and then broadcast seedings of Coreopsis tinctoria and some zinnias. The garden is almost completely done!