09 OCT 2010

After my outdoor seed-sowing mostly failed, I decided to germinate seeds indoors at the end of March. I knew what to do because my mother is a gardener, but I didn't realise the thrill of seeing a little speck of green in the soil where I had poked in a seed. It took two weeks before there were any signs of germination, I didn't expect anything to happen because I wasn't sure if I was watering them correctly or if they were warm enough. Then it happened and it was almost magical the way the seeds all germinated at the same time.

This is one of the results - morning glory which I chose for its blue flowers. The seedlings turned yellow and died except for this one which struggled for a while, but after it started growing its true leaves, it spiralled quickly and evenly up my washing line pole without any guidance. The delicate flowers open in the morning and fade in the evening.

The leaves reminded me of the bindweed which attempted to strangle many of my plants last year. Unfortunately, I have just found out that morning glory is in the same family as bindweed (convolvulaceae). As I have decided not to use artificial weed-killers or fertilisers (until I'm forced to at least), I controlled the bindweed this year by raking the undergrowth in the spring and keeping it clear. I think the best solution for weeds is to plant lots of plants.