At the end of last winter, almost a year ago now, I had cottage garden visions, I imagined swathes of annuals carpeting my borders backed by vibrant paper daisies. So I bought packets of seeds, scattered them into carefully prepared seed trays, gently watered them, kept them in a warm spot, then every day I would check them, even talking to them. As they grew I transplanted them into punnets. Then finally, what seemed like waiting and watching and caring for so long, I put them into pots and along the border. Then waited for the burst of colour to fill my pots and borders.
But they struggled, they sulked, they finally produced a pitiful display. I was so disappointed. Maybe they didn’t like the hot, humid subtropical climate. So they were relegated to the compost bin.
But just look at this…What a survivor. From wind-blown seed this tiny, tough alyssum has just popped up in the most unlikely spot. Stony, compacted ground, very little soil, dry, sunny area with very little moisture, yet it has burst into life. Nature never ceases to amaze me. Maybe I lavished too much love on the original plants, sometimes tough love creates strength in plants as well as people.
The last line in your post made realise why I am so fit and well.😃
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Haha….
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Tough little things. What about some of those native seaside daisies, Pauline? They grow like weeds but they have a beautiful little flower which is quite cottagey.
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Yes I have had them in the past when the garden was more sunny. Now we’ve had the big prune I can probably find some sunny places for them. They are cheerful little things
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They are certainly very versatile and even cope with our frosts.
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Alyssum is one of my unsung heroes, Pauline. It self seeds, as you’ve discovered, in the most amazing places, and the self seeded ones do better than all the others.
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They are popping up all over that paved area, quite amazing
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Can’t keep a good plant down – or that’s what Graham always says to me. Same clearly goes for Jack 🙂
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😄
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When I was a little tyke, and was waiting with my mother in the waiting room of a clinic where my younger brother had an appointment, I found a small packet of wildflower seed in a Sunset magazine, and took it. Yes, I felt guilty; but grew the seed anyway. It was just a small sample packet that covered a small area, but the blooms were really nice. They finished by autumn. A few came back the following year. The alyssum was among those that returned, and is still in the garden there now! For all these years, it has been a most welcome weed.
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That is a lovely story, pleased to hear yours is still surviving
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It is all over the neighborhood. I like to see it growing defiantly in the synthetic landscapes of new monster homes that were built on the sites of home where kids I grew up with lived.
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I love the scent too
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Well, that is why it is normally known as ‘sweet alyssum’.
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What a survivor!
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Sure is
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Some plants are real survivors – they have my total admiration.
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Mine too
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