Spring is here, the snow will go – I promise – and it’s time to start planting your annual flower seeds indoors. We need some beautiful thoughts.
I suggest morning glories and nasturtiums, both because I like them, and they are so easy that you could make them a project for any young children you want to get hooked on gardening.
Morning glories are vigorous climbers, and some are a vibrant blue color that is unusual in gardens. They greet you with bountiful blossoms every morning.
Nasturtiums have chickpea-sized seeds (easy for youngsters to handle), bright leaves and even brighter flowers, and they work well either as ground cover or in containers. In addition, both the leaves and the flower petals are edible – which kids will like.
With both plants, you use small seedling pots – about 2 inches square – fill them with good potting soil, tamp it down so it ends up down about a half-inch from the top of the pot, then water the soil and plant the seeds a half-inch deep.
One difference is that with the morning glory seeds, you have to nick the seed with a razor blade or knife or scrape it with a rasp, uncovering the lighter-colored inner layer of the coating; soak them in warm water overnight before you plant them.
Water the pots well and put them in a warm part of your house until they sprout. At that point, move them to a south-facing sunny window or put them under artificial lights and continue watering them with a weak solution of compost tea or liquid fertilizer.
You will want to harden off the plants, which involves putting them outside during the day and bringing them back indoors at night. Wait until well after the last frost date – until the soil temperature is above 60 degrees – before transplanting them outside.
Both morning glories and nasturtiums need at least six hours of sun, and the morning glory vines like something to climb. If you don’t have a trellis or a fence, make a temporary arrangement with green jute garden twine. You can cut it all down in the fall and compost it…but let’s not think of fall yet.
— TOM ATWELL
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