This was an interesting learning experience for English Raven Jnr and myself. A bit of a case of all the intentions being good, but over-enthusiasm actually clouded our judgement.
The flower pot in the picture above was our Spring Project, started months ago by selecting a range of seeds that benefit from a late winter/early autumn planting. There are actually four separate flower varieties planted there, in neat little sections so that each variety got an even quarter of the pot in which to grow and thrive (and wow us in early spring).
The little pale blue flowers on the far right were the first to bud and bloom. They've been struggling ever since, but it looks like they might make it...
The colourful, explosive flowers on the far left were the last to bud and bloom, and boy are they impressive.
Between those two extremes are (were?) the two varieties in the middle. They began to bloom not long after the first lot on the right, and they were beautiful. Vivid purple for one lot and gorgeous crimson and gold for the other lot.
And then they just (if you'll forgive local parlance) 'carked it'...
There are lessons in this for a dad who knows next to nothing about plants and gardening.
And there are lessons for the educator, too. As in, the scope of the environment and the amount of possible nutrients in it can be limited; packing in as many educational priorities and strains as possible means that, in the end, some will feed off the resources the others need and not all will make it through. The result can be lopsided, disappointing and infinitely less pretty.
Plant your seeds so that they complement each other and don't overwhelm the available space to grow.
That, and/or avoid the flower pot (and the special pre-prepared and packaged soil) altogether... concentrate on a nurturing a broader garden.
There's my 'deep' post for the week...
:-D
