When I ordered my seeds from the Hardy Plant Society seed scheme, I received a packet of mixed seeds, the sweepings from the floor of the fabled seed fairies who manage the scheme. These seeds were sown back in January and have been busy germinating and trying to survive my mismanagement ever since.

The garden frenzy that is the start of summer has led to mixed fortunes for the mystery plants resulting from the mystery seeds. I’m afraid to say some have succumbed to poor watering discipline. A brief moment of respectful silence is appropriate. Mourning period over, I can show you what I still have, or at least those which I can find!

From the foliage, I think several folks thought these were polemonium, or Jacob’s Ladder. One of them is flowering and I’m not sure if they look like Jacob’s Ladder or not. Something else perhaps? I’ve planted them out in the border, they seem to be doing well in partial shade.

Possible foxgloves. I’ve planted these out too, again in partial shade. It would normally be full shade but the nearby abelia shrub was pruned right back so there is more light available than usual. I gather foxgloves will cope ok in shade. Assuming they are foxgloves…

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I think these are lychnis coronaria, certainly it looks a lot like the ones I already have, with the silvery gray hairy leaves.

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I have no idea what these are. A hardy geranium with deeply cut leaves? Not convinced.

Finally, this is the seedling that grew the fastest. It is 45cm high, roughtly and it is flowering away. The flowers are pink and quite small, perhaps 2 cm across.

These plants are both mysterious and tough, surviving as they have my apparent indifference. I have a general backlog of planting out, waiting for me to dig up more of the lawn to provide space. When it gets warm, the small pots in particular dry out very fast, hence some becoming compost-fodder. With a suitably gallic shrug, all I can say is “c’est la guerre.”

Do you recognise any of these plants? Let me know in the comments.

I’ll be back soon with another update, assuming I manage to keep any of them alive!