Homebound or Flitting About?

  Whether "homebound" or "flitting about", you have to set roots somewhere eventually.  When it comes to either, seeds are pretty miraculously adept.  How remarkable is it to be able to set up a life wherever you stop long enough to establish those roots.  What I call homebound seeds are those that drop directly under the parent plant and then "worm" their way beneath the soil to set up housekeeping. There, the seeds usually sit dormant until the right conditions come to them.  If the ground is moist and warm enough, the seed will start to split and a tiny root will finger its way out of the hull.  That tiny, wispy root will take in nutrition and soon swell enough that the seed literally bursts open.  The stem shoves its way outward and roots sprout along the sides.  As the stem lengthens it pushes the seed toward the warm sunshine.  Finally, when the stem shoves through the soil, it will shed its seed hat and let the leaves unfurl.  

  The flitting about seeds are those that, one way or another, wind up far from the parent plant.  Some seeds "fly" while others hitch a ride.  Seeds like burrs grab ahold to fur, skin or clothing to be scattered about the countryside.  Other seeds hitch a ride via critters eating them and then...well, pooping out the seed in a different spot.  These seed types depend on outsiders to help them find a new home.  Other Flitting About seeds fly.  The "flying" seed are well equipped with fibers or winglike tabs that allow the wind to lift them.  It is not unusual to see clouds of seeds being carried by the breeze.  

  Today as I was trimming the jasmine vines, several seed pods burst open spilling their little feathery seeds into the wind.  A mad dash was made to capture as many of the escaping, runaway seeds before they were carried off to the woods.  It was my desire to let them sprout in flowerpots not in the underbrush.  While the jasmine is beautiful and smells wonderful, a woods full of it might not be the happiest of places. The vines would choke out other small saplings and create a mess!

  The two types of seeds found today were both planted back into the gardens.  The homebound seeds were from the Four-O'clock that bloom in midsummer throughout fall.  They grace the evening and nighttime with their delightful aroma and neon bright blooms.  The flitting about seeds were, of course, the jasmine.  They bloom early summer to midsummer and, like the Four-O'clocks, make the yard smell incredible.  I am glad I salvaged the seeds!