110 The Meadow
May 8, 2026
T hings I love—my grandkids and my plants. I’m forever balancing my free time between the two. The problem is they all grow up so fast. I don’t want to miss out!
BTW, I don’t include my husband in this problem—he will forever stay 5-years-old…
Especially fast-growers are the baby plants—annuals—I start from seed every year. This February, I gave birth to hundreds of babies.
And I’ve got the stretch marks to prove it! Being crazy-passionate about plants, I obsess over every little seed and seedling until they’re ready to push out into the world!
Growing from seed does have its issues, though. One being, why go through the trouble (if you want to call it that) when I can buy ready-grown plants from nurseries?
As a professional nursery hopper, I know what they offer on those annuals tables. Colorful, but YAWN!
No. I will forever grow my own annuals from seed. I buy them from top seed retailers that offer the rare and unusual plants I love in my pots and gardens every year.
Thankfully, all this year’s babies have flown the coup, landing in good garden homes—mine, my clients’, and the Sherwood Demonstration Garden—where they will be loved and nurtured.
Most importantly, they’re where I can monitor them and determine which ones I will grow again next year.
I have pretty high standards for plants birthed by me—or by a nursery—before obtaining coveted spots in my gardens.
My first and most important standard is this: Every time I walk past the plant, does it make me smile?
These do…
I smile because nasturtiums remind me of my youth growing up on the Northern California coast. There, nasturtiums grow—and thrive—without any attention from humans.
But as an adult gardener, I had a hard time getting nasturtium seeds to germinate.
As with all my seeds, I placed a dome over their tray at first. But then a light bulb went off (in my head, I mean) and I remembered those nasturtiums of my youth, growing freely all by themselves. I decided to try germinating them without the dome. Ta-da!!
Some seeds just don’t need extra care to germinate. Just soil, water and light.
It seems a miracle, don’t you think?
Nasturtium ‘Orchid Flame’
The ‘Orchid Flame’ does not look like its packet photo, but honestly, Readers, do our blossoms EVER look like they do in photos?
I bought these cornflower seeds due to their photo. The variety of colored blossoms all on one plant—as shown on the packet—would certainly make me smile, I thought.
Centaurea cyanus ‘Classic Magic’ (Cornflower)
Clearly, ‘Classic Magic’ did not perform as shown, though it did give me a nice rainbow of lavender hues in each flower. So…half a smile.
Another standard for “will I sow these seeds again?” is this: does the plant make friends with its neighbors?
Datura ‘Ballerina Purple’
If a plant attracts damn hornworms, it’s not a friend! Daturas are part of the potato family, closely related to the tomato—which explains why they get hornworms.
The photo on the packet shows no hornworms—of course it doesn’t—not even a warning in the description.
Gawd I hate picking hornworms off by hand. No, I do not have chickens to do it for me! Between grandkids and plant babies why should I spend time tending chickens?!
Another standard for annuals: Does the plant stand out when mixed with other plants? Or does it struggle to make a statement?
Datura ‘Ballerina White’ – Gypsophila (Baby’s Breath) – Gomphrena globosa ‘White’ – Geranium
That Geranium certainly makes itself known with its pop of color. Love, love, love.
But the Baby’s Breath? I grow it every year, and every year I ask myself, “why bother?” The blossoms are so tiny and the plant so airy, it gets lost if not paired with the right plants and the right pot.
For the same reason, the Gomphrena is another “why bother” plant. Those blossoms are a lot tinier than they look on the seed packet.
Who do these seed companies think they’re fooling? Everyone knows the photos mostly feature perfect plants grown in perfect conditions which few actual gardeners can manage.
Yet—sigh—we still buy them because we actual gardeners have actual hope! (Do you think seed producers know and depend on this…?!)
Now, about these strawflowers I grew from seed…
Xerochrysum bracteatum ‘King Size Orange’ (Strawflower)
Do I regret buying and giving birth to these strawflowers? No and yes.
“No” because…those vibrant orange blossoms!
“Yes” because—though they’re labeled ‘King Size Orange’—the blossoms are actually itty-bitty and sit atop 3-foot stalks. I have to get up close to see what the big deal is.
Then “No regrets” again because up close and all in a mass, those blossoms are quite a show!
Strawflowers are known to be good in flower arrangements. But I do not make flower arrangements for inside the house. I prefer pretty blossoms in their garden environment…using a magnifying glass, I guess, if I have to!
The growing requirements on the packet should state: full-sun, well-draining soil, best viewed magnified.
Speaking of things that should not be so tiny, I am constantly saying to this next plant, “Grow damn it!”
‘Showstar’ is so damn tiny. Like it’s my thing to grow miniature gardens! It would get lost if I didn’t place it in a pot at eye level.
The plants you see with it are Hen and Chicks and Variegated Trailing Abutilon.
(I bet you’ve never seen the Abutilon. If I hint that I might propagate it again for 2027’s Master Gardener’s Annual Plant Sale, will you come???)
The moral of the mini-plant story? You can’t tell by seed packet photos how close the camera was to the flower. In closeups, even ants look huge, but we know their actual size. How can we know the true size of flowers we’ve never seen in person?
In my classes I always say you can learn the true size of blossoms by reading the seed packet, not by the looking at the photo. But apparently—like my husband—I don’t always listen to what I say.
Now, is this next annual a showstopper? Hell, yeah!
Salpiglossis sinuata ‘Kew Blue’ (Painted Tongue ‘Kew Blue’)
It might be “Hell, yeah,” but ‘Kew Blue’ is just another example of a plant with “blue” in its name when the actual blossoms are clearly purple. So annoying!
Growing plants from seed can be a roll of the dice. You cross your fingers and hope for good results. But to me, it’s so worth the time and effort.
I’ve had thoughts that it’s selfish for me to spend time with my plants that I could spend with my grandkids. But these thoughts last only a second…okay, maybe a minute when the voice I’m hearing is the grandmother inside my head.
But then I think, plants feed my soul and make me smile. They just do! After a day of gardening work, I feel accomplished and joyful—in the best of moods.
Which is good for others, right?
“Happy Me, Happy Them” is not just a saying. It’s science, I hear. Nurturing a garden is proven to have positive ripple effects.
But you know this already, Readers. Why else do you continue reading this blog? LOL!
