After hoarding poppy heads and ceremoniously decapitating my first sunflower, I was set to deseed my little collection. It took me a good few hours as well! First I was shaking the heads to remove the seeds into a container, then I took to crushing them en masse. There were thousands of seeds in a thousand shades of umber and topaz. Thereafter I sieved them all to get rid of the larger bits of detritus.
The sunflower was also a mini epic. I started off by gently plucking out the individual seeds which looked like mint humbugs. They had a wonderful kind of sheen to them, with miniscule hairs. As this was taking so long I just applied some torque and they were popping out all over the place. The flower still smelt great, even at this late stage.
I then funneled the poppy seeds into individual seed packets. Same for the sunflower seeds. These will go out to family and friends.
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I was all set to plant my tulip bulbs but I found out it was a tad early. Menacing terms such as premature flowering etc. put me right off. Instead I opted to plant my purple sensations! These beauties belong to the onion family and will hopefully make a welcome addition to our garden when (if!) they emerge next year. Back on the waiting game. As with the daffodil planting of last year, it was a Friday and it was warm. Good omen!
Ludicrously enthusiastic, I strategically planted the bulbs round the garden, where we have the most sun, then stuck stakes in the ground marked allium, in case I forgot where they were. As everything dies right back in winter sometimes there's no way of knowing if things are ever coming back or growing for the first time.
I call this one Hank.
Buoyed on by the fun and energy of planting the bulbs, I decided to move the lavender from the compost tray / tin catastrophe, whatever you want to call it. It was planted under the conifer where the soil is dry and somewhat dusty. I have it on good advice that it will grow well here. Watch this space!
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