Sunday, February 01, 2009

Foxglove Fever

Often in spring I forget where I live (arid, high-desert climate), and dream of growing beds of this oh-so-beautifully elegant flower:

I call it Foxglove Fever. Unfortunately, this lovely flower is not easily grown in Amman, and even the few I've been able to purchase(rare and expensive) have been victims of theft and turpentine poisoning. This (growing) year the fever hit early when I found an innocent packet of foxglove seeds in my kitchen. They are the teeniest tiniest things and I never thought that I would actually get any seedlings started but, lo and behold, they germinated!

The fever heated up and I convinced my Dear Husband, bless his hands, to hang some fluorescent lights from the bottom bunk in our guest/project room. (One clever cyber-friend noted that I have a real flower bed.)

Surprisingly, to me, the foxglove seedlings are growing faster than my purple coneflower and poppy seedlings. I've gotten a little carried away and now have more seedlings than I have space for under the lights. Ever supportive, Dear Husband has agreed to two more lights and I have developed a rotation system for the larger plants.

Unfortunately, as I dream of 30+ foxglove plants in my garden, Jordan is facing a potential spring/summer drought; we've only received 5-10% of the our average annual rainfall and the rainy season will probably end next month. Next project: develop a plan to recycle the household gray water in the flower garden.

No comments: