Letting Go

I had a very parental moment in the garden this weekend. With the weather sunny and warm, I finally planted my seedlings outdoors and watched as they quickly acclimated to their new homes, no longer under my watchful eye at all times. Most of the herbs seem happy; the basil, chamomile, and hyssop haven't wilted under the strong sun, but my spindly cilantro is still concerning me. I suspect that the seedlings' poor growth indoors was due to a lack of light, and hopefully that problem can be overcome in the garden.

(Chamomile with some Italian oregano in the background.)

My moody adolescent, the Eupatorium seedling, is growing into a well-adjusted young adult! I planted him a little farther away from the mother plant than I first anticipated because the area around the mother is getting increasingly crowded by flourishing obedient plants (Physostegia virginiana) and great blue lobelia (L. siphilitica). I didn't want to deprive the seedling of sunlight, so he's in a new but apparently good location. He's in the middle of this photo, in front of the goldenrod and peonies:


The coleus seedlings look even better than I had hoped in their container surrounding my spearmint (which I was too scared to plant in the regular herb garden because of mints' aggressive nature). My container plantings are usually rather pedestrian, and in this case that accusation could certainly be made. It's just a pot full of coleus and mint! But the variations within all the coleus seedlings fill the pot with lime green, neon pink, and dusty amethyst all at once. It's simplistic but pretty. My enjoyment of coleus is really increasing!

(A coleus close-up.)


(This columbine looks so small!)
I'm thrilled with all the seedlings' strong start in the garden, but it is still nerve-wracking to see them, so little and still in their peat pots, amidst the full-grown elders of the garden and fully exposed to the elements. But they're taking their first steps toward adulthood, and I am watching them ever so proudly! Geez, if I get this worked up over seedlings, what will happen when my human children grow up?

CORRECTION: In my May Bloom Day post I gave the incorrect Latin name for yellow pimpernel. It is in fact Taenidia integerrima. Apologies!