Monday, November 24, 2008

Moonflower Madness

Hi All!

It is a beautiful, brisk morning here in Texas! When I left the house to walk with C, it was a nippy 53 degrees with a STRONG wind (like always!). It is beautiful here now, the trees are losing their leaves - and trying hard to change colors! I saw a few oranges and some attempts at red while walking this morning.

Yes, Fall has finally reached my neck of the woods and I am enjoying it. One of the things I enjoy doing in the fall is collecting my moonflower seeds. you remember my moonflowers, don't you? They only bloom in the evening/night and are the vining variety not the shorter, stalkier variety. Here - these pictures will refresh your memory!




(I will admit that the last picture was taken a while ago - we still had our wooden fence then!)



So - do you remember now? Well, let me tell you about my seed harvesting. Each of the lovely flowers eventually dies and a seed pod is made. In the fall these pods become mature and have anywhere from 1 to 5 seeds in them.

This year I was blessed by many, many, many moonflowers. So - that means that I am also blessed with many, many, many seed pods and TONS of seeds! Each year I keep some seeds to replant the next year. Why buy seeds when I have a ready supply each year?

Over the past several years, the yield of seeds has increased exponentially. Last year I got several hundred seeds - which I still have! When planting for my yearly plant, I only use about 8 seeds and that leaves me with a LOT of leftover seeds. This year my seed collection is yielding even more seeds and I feel bad about only using about a dozen or so and leaving the rest ungrown. So - I am trying something new.

If anyone out there would like some moonflower seeds, please let me know and I will send you a dozen. The moonflowers are low maintenance but do need to be replanted every year. I am not quite sure exactly how to do this but, first, let's see if people are interested. Leave me a comment if you would like a packet of seeds and then I will figure out the rest!

Editor's note: I know that moonflowers grow fine in Ohio so they do okay in more northern regions. Because of the shorter growing season I am not certain that they really make it to the seed producing stage but - I will always have seend to give you unless something happens!

On a totally different topic - Mom and Dad are coming to visit today. I will be picking them up at the airport around noon and they will be spending the night (I think). Tomorrow they will drive up to Oklahoma to visit my brother and his family and then they will come back to our house for Thanksgiving. My brother and his family are coming on Saturday for a family Thanksgiving. It should be interesting. My first time cooking Thanksgiving dinner for more than Hubby and myself! Wish me luck! I am keeping it simple.

Trisha

Voice Update: Darn it! Today while walking I had a LOT of trouble skipping different "unvoiced" consonant sounds. How frustrating!!! (that needed more than one measly exclamation mark!) Maybe with Mom and Dad here I will talk more and exercise those darn muscles more than with the exercises, etc. I hate having bad days. Then again, I have been blessed with so many good days. Thank God!

4 comments:

Mental P Mama said...

I would love some! Do you think CT would be okay? I would start them in the house, and wait until May to put them out. They are beautiful!

Anonymous said...

Those are beautiful. I only wish I had room in my yard, it's fully lanscaped already. How nice of you to give them away.

Chris H said...

Much as I'd love some seeds, there is no way our immigration officials would let them in the country! Hope you have a lovely visit with your family.

Flea said...

Those moonflowers smell wonderful. I had quite a few creeping around the garden near the end of summer this year. :)