Now
I do not wish to look a gift horse in the mouth, as the saying goes, but I am
somewhat mystified by the free gift I have received from a well-known supplier
of my horticultural needs, namely dahlia and begonia tubers.
Based
out in the wilds of the countryside north from here, the company has its roots
in Holland. I have been a customer for many years. Indeed, they keep telling me
that this is so as they promise to send me massive cheques, but never do so.
I
use them perhaps twice a year for their products are excellent; their dahlias
and begonias flower all summer long and then dry off in the greenhouse over
winter, to flower yet again in the warm weather. They are much admired in my
front garden by passers-buy, whilst last summer a young man living next door
took photographs of them to send to his mother in Romania.
The
free gift is a seven by five plastic bag of Home SEED (their capitals). The
colour illustration shows wild flowers in abundance with a single butterfly
alighting on the blooms. So I have to assume that the bag contains wild flower
seeds in some sort of compost.
But
the instructions are written in 13 different languages with English being
second down the packet. Here is what I am encouraged to perform – unedited and
just as it is wrote:
Culturing the
earth:
1. Spit the
place for your lawn flowers fully, remove the weeds, possibly mixing with moist
peat soil which your seeds are more resistant to drought. Then raking and
levelling to a smooth seed bed.
2. Rake the
seedbed again slightly, so that the seeds are mixed in the top layer of earth
up to about 0.5cm deep. Then sprinkle the soil. The earth has moisture, light
and warmth to germinate the seeds. Then ask your flower meadow little more
maintenance.
3. After 2 to 3
weeks the seeds germinate. Spray if
necessary. After 6 to 8 weeks, you can expect the first flowering. Your flower
meadow can be 4 months gorgeous blooms.
4. Sow to
yourselves from March until June on not too cold earth, with a daytime
temperature of around 16C/night around 8C.
Right!
Now I understand. I will spit the earth and sprinkle the soil, whilst asking my
flower meadow if it requires more maintenance and sowing to myself. Luvverly!
