Edelweiss population explosion!
Apr. 13th, 2016 08:05 amDamn you, Abigail Rorer, this is your fault! If your wretched illustrations hadn't been so compelling, I'd never have discovered Reginald Farrer, bought the book, and looked up Edelweiss / flannel flower / Leontopodium alpinum. And I might not have ever cracked the seal on that packet of Edelweiss seeds my friend brought me as a cat-sitting present when she went to Switzerland. ("What would you like?" she asked. "Oh, bring me some Edelweiss seeds," I said -- like an idiot. Why couldn't I have said "bring me some good chocolate"?)
Reginald Farrer said these guys are easy to grow, and not just in the hills. Well, they're certainly easy to grow from two-year-old seed under grow-lights. Here's a close-up of a corner of the seedling flat. For scale, those "pebbles" are individual grains of builders' sand.
The packet contained 100 seeds. I think I'm up to 70-plus that have sprouted. This picture was taken yesterday afternoon and there's been movement since.

clindau has already put in a request for surplus seedlings. I think this counts as one of my "mimpish squinnies" series of posts because that's what started this. Happily, the friend who brought me the seeds also wants a couple for her mother, whom she says has probably not seen an Edelweiss since childhood.
Reginald Farrer said these guys are easy to grow, and not just in the hills. Well, they're certainly easy to grow from two-year-old seed under grow-lights. Here's a close-up of a corner of the seedling flat. For scale, those "pebbles" are individual grains of builders' sand.
The packet contained 100 seeds. I think I'm up to 70-plus that have sprouted. This picture was taken yesterday afternoon and there's been movement since.

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