In my now annual seed influx from the Hardy Plant Society seed scheme, I signed up for a lucky dip packet which is made up from loose seeds. These are escapees from envelopes, spillage from the silver teaspoons used for scoops, that kind of thing. They are unidentified. I don’t have the expertise to identify the varieties from the seeds, so each one will be a surprise.

Well, what fun and games. Last time I had potted up most of the mystery seedlings from the first of two batches. Since then I have killed them all! I am a stone cold plant killer. In an act of gardening over-confidence, I put a liberal scoop of fertiliser in with the potting mix. This single hubristic folly resulted in the death by over-eating of a whole swathe of seedlings, including this lot. They all died, stuffed to the gills with nutrients they weren’t ready to take on. Like giving steak and chips to a baby. So we’ll say no more about this first batch, their identities having gone with them to the compost heap. Cue sombre music.

More happily, we still have batch 2, plus some from batch 1 that had germinated since I potted their stable-mates on. The game is thus still afoot. Here they are, in no particular order. Any you recognise?

Mystery 1
Mystery 1
Mystery 2
Mystery 2
Mystery 3
Mystery 4
Mystery 5

Answers on a postcard or back of a sealed envelope. Send to: Multicoloured Swap Shop, BBC Broadcasting House, London W1A 1AA. Or alternatively you can drop me a comment below.

I’ll be back with another mystery seed update in a month or so.

Advertisements