Schizanthus, Nicotania and Pot Shards

The schizanthus germinated sulkily. A few thin stretched sprouts and a couple of tiny ones. Not only does this plant provide a poor germination rate but it germinates unevenly so you don’t know how long to hold it under the dark covers. I wonder why I plant it at all and then I recall the short stocky plants in the garden covered with pink blooms that go on forever. Only the godetica out blooms it.

A small dish slid out of the kitchen cupboard and hit the floor breaking into three or four pieces. Not a problem for the gardener. The china chunks are good for the bottom of pots as are ripped plastic pots and packs, broken ceramic plant pots, shells and largish stones. I never use packing foam or packing peanuts as some garden magazines advise – what a mess in the fall when you clean out the pots! The soil must be thrown away in garbage bags because the foam will not break down in the compost. Small stones and gravel are also not good for the same reason. At the end of the season, I want to be able to tip the pot in the compost and pick out the three of four large drainage shards. When I bought this house twenty years ago there was a mass of garbage piled in the yard including an abandoned toilet. I broke this up, creating great pot shards which I am still using.

The nicotania, which germinated in a six inch pot, is now very crowded and needs to be re-planted in packs. Last night I planted more cilantro, more parsley and the lavatera, another great annual. The variety is called Silver Cup but, contrary to the name, it is pink, The white lavatera is nice but not so floriferous . Lavatera, which looks like a hibiscus or a malva, is the premier annual in the garden in late July and August. It is about a foot high and does not do well in pots. It likes the open garden.