Experiment status

This year I am trying several experiments and a few new things. One of the first experiments that came to mind was to grow cotton. I know, my friends looked at me like I was nuts! I'm in zone 9, California, and wondered what cotton plants and cotton bolls looked and felt like (I'm very visual and very touchy-feely). Images online weren't enough - I wanted to see them up close and personal and be able to touch them. And I didn't want the white cotton that everyone and their mother grows; I wanted to grow cotton in beautiful natural colors. So I ordered some seeds (which came with a little cotton fuzz still on them so I could see the color), waited til it got warm, and planted them out last weekend. This weekend, I got seedlings! I can't tell you how tickled I am, and also quite excited to see if they grow and thrive and produce the Mississippi brown color. This is pre-civil war cotton and is supposed to grow a nice light tan to golden brown cotton. When the seeds arrived, I had a pack of the Mississippi Brown that included one rogue green cotton seed in it. I planted that lone green seed and the brown seed in different pots. The green came up first (right) and the brown came up second. That may have to do with the fact that my bf was watering the other day, and knocked the brown pot over with the hose. I righted it, shoved the seed back in, and two days later had the new sprout on the left.

I also grew calendula. This was my first seedling of this type and of course, first to bloom. I was surprised that once that flower emerged, it took DAYS for it to actually open and bloom. This beautiful flower took it's own sweet time and this is the result. Very much worth the wait. I enjoyed it for 3 days before I clipped it. Calendula has medicinal purposes and I plan on making my first salve with it.