Planting Seeds

Taking a cue from nature

- Ms. Simone Preuss

Have you ever grown plants from seeds, planting them into the fresh soil, watered them and then waited for the first green shoots to come out? Maybe you bought seeds from the market for flowers, herbs or all kinds of edible plants, or maybe you just took the seeds you had at home from the food you consumed - pumpkins, oranges, lemons, tomatoes, dates and more are really wonderful for starting your own indoor garden.

However, more often than not, apart from the plants we intend to grow, there is a whole range of others that plant themselves - weeds or wild flowers that come from the vegetation in our environment. These opportunists float their seeds or pollen through the air and rest them wherever opportunity knocks - like a pot of soil with seeds that have not yet sprouted, providing much needed space and water.

They are small and inconspicuous and often we learn of their existence only once the first green shoots show themselves. Even then, we may have no idea that they are not what we planted but the cuckoo's egg equivalent of the plant world. Only once they get bigger and show a distinguishable shape is that we take note and wonder what they are and where they came from.