Fall Signs of Spring

Spring comes pulsing, even at this time of year. Be looking for it. The hope of spring gets us through dark, wet, cold, damp, snow, sleet, ice, rain and grey. The most fun Things I get to do today are filled with the vibrance of Spring. Already.

Seeds ready for next spring starting: Sun Gold, Jeune Flamme, Rapreco Paste, Green Zebra, Galina Yellow Cherry.

Savior of the Garden

The flowers of summer are gone.  If it weren't for the Rudebeckia, there would be no color in the yard--the Rudebeckia and the Zinnias.  The seeds for the Zinnias were started late, so instead of the plants finishing off the season now, they are just now getting their second and third blossoms.  In spite of the wind and the rain, they are blooming, blazing and brilliant all over the yard.

Dried Zinnia

This is the third generation of seeds from a single gifted plant two years ago.  Last fall I saved the most developed bloom of the most Righteous Red I could find in the yard.  All winter the wad of brown, twisted shards dried and waited.

Arrow-shaped seed still attached to the dried petal

Then finally it showed up on the list of Things I get to do today:  extract the seeds.  In that process, the Zinnia held a surprise for me:  the seeds were attached to the petals!  I know little about Zinnias except that their intensely brilliant color thrills my soul.  I certainly never knew this.

Among the beans

The odd, shard-like seeds found soil, sprouted into seedlings, and then were tucked into all the places of bare earth around the yard and garden.  And now the payback!  On a grey, rainy day, Righteous Reds reign as the savior of the season.

Lining the front walk.

A Real Mess

Mess of Beans is a figure of speech.  We are now talking about a real mess--all over the place.  It started in the lettuce (alone) patch.  Leave two gorgeous lettuces alone on their honeymoon and you'll get some hot action. (See previous post of October 7.)  What followed was a late-night kidnapping of the crown candelabra from the tallest plant.

 I'm in love with this dark, burgundy lettuce.  Garden salads are a staple in our evening meals.  Since we eat plenty of other green leaves from about the yard, the color of this variety makes it enticing and delightful.

A beautiful burgundy colored lettuce--
I believe it is called Merlot--dried for saving

Our dry, hot weather had gone on for months, exceeding all past records.  I became careless.  The middle of the night it first rained, I awoke with a start.  In my Things I get to do today I had forgotten to bring in the multiple seed stalk from the honeymoon bed.  An observer (there were none, fortunately) would have seen a figure in night wear, bent against the drizzle, scuttling quickly to the garden, breaking off the crown candelabra of seeds, tucking it into the loot bag and disappearing just that fast.

Tiny seed head

Pinching off the end tassel allows the seeds to fall out
mess-free

10 to 20 seeds in each tiny head

Stray seeds from each head are mixed with the shards.
These will grow in my lettuce bed.

Set out to dry for two weeks, the seeds now need to be released from their tiny heads and stored safely.  The first attempt, rolling the head between thumb and finger produced the seeds as well as all the protective dried head in shards and thoroughly mixed with the seeds.  What a mess!  

If these were to given as tiny Christmas presents, the separating technique needed fine tuning.  By removing tuft of the head, the seeds squirted out nearly clean.

Black Bead Mystery

Spiny little balls form
after the Canna blooms

Big black beads were in the seed box this spring. When I put them there (I had to be the only one who would do this), apparently I was confident that my memory would keep their name handy for the day when the information would be helpful.

Hot color in the cool Fall

Must have forgotten to inform Miss Memory of this part of her job description.  So I threw the big black beads away.  Hadn't a clue what might spring up if they went into the ground.

Mature seed pod revealing enough
of the big black bead to solve the mystery

And now the lovely sleek and slender lipstick-red cannas are showing their full cycle--buds, blooms, balls and beads--all at once even in this fall season.

Label them in a seed packet--
this time I will remember what they are 

The mystery is solved by Things I get to do today as I pause for a moment to admire the wonders of this plant.