Look at these sweet little things. They make me smile so big! Maybe because I have always had trouble with keeping plants alive. I never had much interest in gardening so every effort I made in that regard was half-hearted. Then a little over a year ago I had a dream of walking along a fragrant garden path with flowers blooming all around me and shining in the moonlight. I woke up with such a feeling of peace and contentment and I thought, what a lovely dream. Are there flowers that bloom at night? That sent me down a rabbit hole of moon gardens and night-blooming flowers like Nicotiana, Night-blooming Jasmine, Moonflowers and Midnight Candy. I was so intrigued and felt a nudge to try and grow some. With shipping and transportation delays because of the pandemic, the seeds and supplies I ordered didn't arrive until the beginning of June. Even though I knew it was late for planting I wanted to try anyway. So that same day I soaked my little Ipomoea Alba Moonflower seeds overnight and planted them the next day. Three days later, I had the cutest little sprouts. I hoped they would flower and later develop seed pods that I could collect for this year. They grew like a magic beanstalk and I helicopter-parented that poor vine like a psycho hoping it wasn't too late in the season for blooms. I did get several flower buds at the end of September but only two actually made it to blooming and wouldn't you know it I missed the bloom both times! I was so heartbroken. My vine never did produce seed pods, the cold came too early for that I suppose. But I am trying again this year and last Sunday I planted a flat of seeds. They are already growing like crazy! I've been setting them out in the sunshine during the day and bringing them in at night. This morning I found them so endearing, like little sleepy babes waking and stretching for the sun, rubbing the sleep from their eyes with their little seed hull caps and bits of soil sitting sweetly on their heads.
