A forest in a pot

Back to an average day, it seems! Dull, chilly, odd patches of drizzle. Jacket and woolly hat on this morning to continue going through my potted plants - weeding, relabelling, potting etc. 

When I picked up this pot of Monkey Puzzle seedlings I thought I should try to find someone who might want some, so I posted on three Facebook pages and have had two requests so far, but mostly just 'likes'. They came from a tree in Oban which was felled a while ago - the garden was strewn with seeds, so I grabbed a handful. Why? Because I could!

I carried on 'gardening' after lunch, but it got colder and damper, so I gave up. I began the process of sowing some fern spores, from a tree fern at Glasgow Botanics. Last week at the fern meeting everyone was given a packet. It's a bit of a faff - everything has to be sterile to avoid moss or liverwort growing on the compost. The compost itself has to be carefully sterilised by covering it with kitchen roll and slowly pouring boiling water over it. Then it must be covered again and left to cool down - I hope it's cooled by now so I can sow the spores, which are like the finest dust. Then next year I might see come green colouration appearing, which in time will begin to turn into tiny sporelings. Then I'll leave the pot to someone in my will and they might have some tree ferns! It needs a lot of patience!

Quote of the day: 'Patience is the companion of wisdom.' - Saint Augustine.