Experiments...

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Last spring I was working at a florist shop, so I got my hands on as many seeds I could have. The florist had some beautiful dried cotton stems and I collected the seeds from the cotton balls. They sprouted well on my window sill, and I put them outside when it was warm.

The aphid and the slugs made a feast out of them and few survived summer. The last ones grew no more than 15cm, probably because of the lack of sun and appropriate soil condition, though I watered them well and added appropriate drainage… Just one pulled through winter, back in the window sill, and it completely died this week.

I wonder if anyone here had a go at growing cotton? I would have thought such a widely grown plant would be easy to grow, but perhaps the cold weather was to blame?

Next to the cotton sprouts is an avocado plant. I had started it in a glass with toothpicks holding its bottom half in the water, and after a looooong wait, it finally grew some roots. Gradually I added soil until it was strong enough to be potted up.

This is how it looked at the end of summer. Pretty happy uh?! The leaves where very architectural and elegant.

Unfortunately it died this winter, probably because I kept it so near the window, where it was regularly submitted to cold drafts… I will try again though!

This is a Sedum telephium ‘Autumn Joy’ which I grew from cutting back at Capel Manor during a class. Three months after planting, the little stem made this beautiful flower. I didn’t removed it when it dried out because I thought it was still really beautiful!