Titanarum

Can’t help it. The propagator is now on the window sill. Against all advice. Well, nearly. Been searching the net for info on what I can start growing this time of year and the results, dire as they are, do reveal that ageratums are up for it in December/January in a temperate climate. Ageratums, dontchahatem?! Little poodles of lilac fluff with nothing to say for themselves. Low growing, ugly things smelling of nothing. Who’d want to grow something like that? Judging from the number of cultivars available, quite a few people. The kinds who put them in beds with busy lizzies, pansies and French marigolds, no doubt. Or place them in hanging baskets, where they sit rigid as rigor mortis, among trailing lobelias and fuchsias. I despair. Fortunately ageratums are slow to germinate and tend to suffer from powdery mildew. But that doesn’t stop some people from fussing over them and keeping what should be dead, alive. There are alternatives, apparently: exhibition onions and leeks. Yeah, right. Hmmm. The only plant I feel like planting right now is, surprise surprise, freesia. My packet of bulbs will go in this morning, ready or not. The instructions tell me March. Under cover. How do they know? I’ll show ‘em.