Weird Moonflowers

[Mark Anderson]

Last year I harvested the seeds from the two moonflowers vines I had growing. I took the seeds out of the pods after they dried and before they opened up. This year I carefully planted a lot of moonflower seeds where I need vines with morning glories as backups. Not one moonflower seed sprouted. The only seed I got going by myself is one that had been soaking and sprouted on a paper towel and then I planted it.

So it's late June and these things are now popping up in places I have absolutely no idea how they got there. The first one sprouted in a hanging basket that I put together requiring me to transplant it. Then another one popped up right next to where I transplanted that moonflower in the same container. And just yesterday I found one pop up in a completely different area of the garden far from last year's vines in a massive container that didn't come in contact with any recycled soil from last year. I'm totally perplexed. How can you plan a garden if the vines don't cooperate and sprout where you want them?

[gregpresley]

[Doug Kanter]

You must be fairly new at gardening. Your last question is too funny! :-) There's no firm answer to your question, nor should there be. I'll say just this: If you don't learn to recognize how small you are, as a gardener, compared to the larger scheme of things in your yard, you won't enjoy it as much as you should.

Suggestion - buy these books immediately: "The Essential Earthman" and "One Man's Garden", both by Henry Mitchell. You'll thank me.

[Bungadora]

I have cantaloupes which sprouted on the lawn, nicotiana which keeps popping up everywhere thanks to a 5 foot monster I had 3 years ago, and a large number of unidentified plants everywhere. Flowers have seeds. Seeds grow. I also planted about 15 different packages of seeds, many for the first time. No notes, not a clue what is growing. There is a lesson there somewhere. 8)

It lends a sense of adventure to gardening doesn't it?

Dora2

[Doug Kanter]

Dill is a favorite, too. It seems the seeds are able to survive most anything. Fortunately, the easy availability of salmon balances the overabundance of dill.

[Cheryl Isaak]

I have several tomato plants sprouting in some mulch. I plan to leave them to grow up and feed me! Cheryl

[Gloria Lenon]

My basil does this too! showing up in odd places!

[Bungadora]

Gawd Cheryl! I've never had much luck with tomatoes. It's very cold here at night and they never seem to get going. One year I painstakingly raised tomatoes from seed, and the ONLY ONE that actually produced tomatoes was one that grew itself from some compost I bought. And it grew in a 5x5x18" window box that was full of sweet peas too. Dora2

[Cheryl Isaak]

I've had them sprout, but these look to be thriving.

My neighbor starts seeds in late winter and transplants them several times before its warm enough to put them outside.

Cheryl

[Bungadora]

People get around it various ways. I only have a couple this year that I bought as small seedlings - cherry tomatoes. I planted them in pots and I haul them in every night. Same with my basil, which I grow in a pot. The temperature is still going down below 10C every night, but I might have a rest from my labors soon since it is nearly July.

On the hort society prize garden tour last year the veg garden seniors category winner had a large cold frame setup in his back yard that he had made from glass screen doors. His tomatoes were VERY productive.

Granted, I've seen people here who don't have to do anything like that at all and still grow tomatoes and the like just fine. A lot depends on your microclimate I guess. Dora2

[The Watcher]

First, forget about planning a garden. It's hopeless. ;) Second, to answer the question about how it happens. I used to wonder about that too, so I got my night vision scope out one night and went out in the garden and watched it for a while, and I got the answer. You know those little garden gnomes you see in peoples' yards and gardens? THEY DO IT! They're not alone, though. They seem to have some little helpers, but I couldn't make them out too well. They looked like they might have been elves, but they moved pretty fast. Also, there were some flying ones that might have been fairies. Anyway, there's your answer. They go around at night moving seeds, digging up bulbs, and just causing all kinds of mayhem in gardens. They like to hang around until the next morning and watch the gardeners come out to the garden and stand there scratching their heads trying to figure out what happened. ;)

[Doug Kanter]

"The Watcher" >absolutely no idea how they got there. The first one sprouted in a

I think the jockey statues with the lanterns are part of the conspiracy, too, although I don't see as many of them as I did 30-odd years ago.

[Cheryl Isaak]

My grandmother had one of those - I think it hiding in someone's basement. Never understood the attraction! Cheryl

[Doug Kanter]

Kanter"

Makes the owner feel like they're a member of the "horsey set". :-)

[cat daddy]

Jockey statues marked Underground Railroad

Story Of Jocko "The story begins the icy night in December 1776 when General George Washington decided to cross the Delaware..."

Landscape Design History - Lawn Jockeys Revisited

click the underlined lawn jockeys link...

[Cheryl Isaak]

Interesting! Especially since that family member was quite bigoted.

Cheryl