Cockscomb

It's an Amy Winehouse and seed catalog kind of day. My friend Jade is an avid gardener of the perfumery type, and she turned me onto a new-to-me seed company, Floret. I didn't order much because I haven't done much inventory on the seeds I already have. Last year was a bust in terms of getting seeds started as my greenhouse sat in a box for weeks during late winter, early spring, waiting for its turn in construction. With so much to do, it's difficult sometimes to prioritize, but this year, plants are number one on the list of 'things to do'. 

A few things did work out nicely in the plant department. A cutting of rose geranium that was sent to me is flourishing, grown big and bushy and happy in its little raised bed. I expect when it blooms, there will be plenty to harvest for hydrosol and oil and incense. 

So far I know that there are seeds of blue water lily (yay!), purslane, lotus, sweet pea, tons of orange and yellow poppies, palmarosa, santalum, black coneflower, sage, black poppy, mugwort, yarrow, nasturtium, bachelor button, phlox, sweet clover, St. John's wort, loads of vegetable seeds. I haven't dug to the bottom of the seed bin, but I'm sure there are a few surprises left in there. I just ordered shiso and calendula seeds from Floret. But the seeds I'm really excited about are the celosia, aka cockscomb. There's a man down the street who had them growing 5 feet tall with gorgeous magenta blooms that looked like huge fans, and they bloomed all through the summer, so mid-fall, the husband went down and struck up a conversation with the man about those plants and he handed hubs a few seed heads saying that the plant grows like weeds and the one we so admired in his yard was a volunteer! The color is stunning and will add a pop to the front of the house alongside the heirloom rose bushes. With any luck, they will bloom this year. The damascene is 5 feet tall already, and the wee centifolia has mostly bushed out and hasn't gained much height.