In spite of how long I've been gardening and how many times I have done particular tasks, I still am amazed at how some practices defy all logic and are counterintuitive to what we think gardening is. Take the whole "moist chill" thing. There are a number of flowering plants that prefer, need, prolonged exposure to cold temperatures and steady moisture to germinate. Sounds weird, right? In fact, "self sowers" are, for the most part, plants that need the moist chill treatment. Sooo, there I was last Sunday, outside in the roaring wind and rain , "planting" annual seed to get the moist chill process underway on a big scale. And with some help from seed suppliers like Swallowtail Garden Seed, good garden chum Nancy Ondra, and Messina's Squirrel Stopper, I'll be seeing lovely little plantlet payoffs next spring. Have a look.
1 This is the stash of seed. I had been waiting for the right moment to sow and Sunday was the one: a steady soaking rain followed by a drop in temperatures to freeze every little thing in place.
2 These are little Consolida (aka larkspur) that had self-sown and started up on their own from plants whose seed I'd sown last winter. They're everywhere!
3 This pack of Nicotiana sylvestris gives directions for sowing indoors and out. Ignoring the recommendations here, I'm doing it now as I've had sylvestris self-sow for me in the past.
4 This is a bunch of bread poppy seed, Papver somniferum, a black, peony type, fully double and crazy beautiful. The black ones don't reseed truly black, so I always get a source of new ones each season.
5 So, here's the method: a hand cultivator for opening up the soil surface, scattering the seed in exactly where I THINK I'd like the flower of choice, topped with sharp grit to wick away water and help hold the seed steady. Done.
6 The last line of defense, Squirrel Stopper! I'd tried to use dish soap and cayenne to keep squirrels from digging up bulbs to no avail. This stuff, however, has worked very well for me in the past. I'll let you know if it still does.
