Today was that first day of warmth where Spring fever hits hard and folks go a little bonkers. They start tearing off clothing layers exposing white pasty flesh. Folks who have no business riding a bike among cars are wobbling around in traffic and sporting bugs in their ear to ear grins. Unfortunately it was also the day of the Annies Annuals Spring Party. Which I would normally whole heartedly attend as the nursery is fabulous and I love to root my home team on and they are located in Richmond. But under the influence of Spring Fever and Mr. away in London and unable to provide the necessary financial restraint, I needed to decline the invitation. (Pats self on back).
I did allow myself the more frugal indulgence of buying seeds. (Annies doesn't sell seed). I headed off to Berkeley Horticulture and came home with the above load of seeds.
As you can see I purchased some lobelia, which normally is a dime a dozen at the local home despot or Orchard Supply. The problem is that I wanted to plant baskets of Lobelia and what those box stores sell is not the trailing variety. I had been down this road before and tried to plant Lobelia unsuccessfully in our cold frame.
The problem with planting Lobelia is two-fold. As you can see the seeds are itty bitty, even smaller than a grain of salt. It's really hard to water these with a hose. Also the seeds want to be warm to germinate. And then I came up with the perfect solution.
I took an old clamshell pack from cherry tomatoes and taped some of the holes on the bottom. Filled it with potting soil and very carefully planted the seeds.
I'm keeping it on the windowsill where I can very gently water in the sink. It should be warmer next to the stove and under the solar tube, and especially with it's own little clamshelll greenhouse, so I have high hopes.
