Starting plants from seeds is an exercise in patience and faith. You never know for sure what is going to happen. I trade seeds with hundreds of gardens around the world. It’s always exciting when packages of seeds arrive.
More seeds have arrived! Happiness
I harvest and store seeds from most of the plants in the garden. My state-of-the-art storage system is a large plastic tote, full of seed envelopes. It suffices.
Seed tote doing its job
Some seeds in the collection are traded but others are grown to replace dead or dying plants in the garden. Saving seeds and passing them on is important. All of the seed-sharing networks, formal and informal, are like invisible safety nets stretching around the globe. Humans have been trading seeds for thousands of years. It seems to me it’s our duty to future generations to be keepers of the seeds, passing them on from generation to generation. Kudos to all seed savers in the world!
Here are some seedlings from seeds recently acquired in trade. They’re in the warm greenhouse now, but soon, after they’re hardened off in an unheated greenhouse, they’ll be planted into the garden.
Seedlings in greenhouse
Larger plants in the outdoor nursery area that are about ready to go into the garden. There is always room for more plants. That’s rule #1 and my mantra.
Ready to be transplanted. Make way!
In section A of the garden is a large tea hedge. Tea thrives in Seattle and makes a wonderful alternative to boxwood (Buxus sempervirens) and many of the evergreen species of Viburnum. We would be a happier country if we all would take more time to relax and drink tea with our friends. Whether you drink green, black, white or oolong tea, it’s from the same plant, Camellia sinensis. Here is a tea plant, ready to go into the garden.
Camellia sinensis (tea)
Imagine wandering barefoot out to your tea hedge in late spring or early summer, picking some leaves and making a fresh cup of tea, on the spot. Though the tea we buy at the store is dried, fresh tea has a bright, floral quality that is hard to describe. Think of the difference between fresh mint tea and dried mint tea. Both are good and similar, but with your eyes closed, you can tell which is which. I process some green tea every year to save for the cooler months, but there is nothing quite like fresh tea. Grow some and try it! I know City People’s Garden Store carries tea plants and I imagine other nurseries around here sell them.
sitting drinking tea
just like Li Po and Tu Fu
on a day well spent
See you in the garden.
Very nice! i can certainly vouch for the benefits of tea… although perhaps i will sometimes drink too much of the Jasmine Green Tea that i prefer.
From Li Po to David James Duncan, a toast to the followers of Camellia sinensis. Looking forward to reading more, Keith. Well done!