I spent a few days working at the old house and just before I left I remembered to check the johnny jump ups left behind. Still blooming! They are covered with soggy leaves and half the pan with about an inch of melted snow/rain. I think this is probably the end of the second year for this pan of seeds from winter sowing either left over or for what ever reason forgotten about. Winter sowing is my favorite way of planting perennials and self seeding annuals (like jju). I was thinking about self seeding plants in relation to gardening in Alaska. Columbine is an easy one to scatter around, which I have never been able to grow except for winter sown technique in my Minnesota gardens (much colder and hotter extremes then coastal AK) veronica, poppies and a few others can't think of off hand. In Alaska I scattered Bleeding Heart seeds all over the property. I had a few plants that I was sure would do well so purchased additional seeds to supplement them. The seeds are so tiny they are a pain to work with so I mixed them with some (black gold?) black sand and them broad cast them around in the likely suitable areas. I have no idea if they survived...wish I knew though. Johnny Jump ups, Forget Me Not, and Bleeding Hearts are the three plants that I have loved since childhood. I can close my eyes more then fifty years later and be back visiting these little beauties totally mesmerized by their charm while keeping a wary eye out for my crabby old aunt who would chase any curious child away from her garden. Although she has been dead for many years I often wonder how she could have always been so crabby all the time while having such sweetness in her own little yard.
