---
I bought a bunch of pansies yesterday to plant in the driveway bed in the spots where I didn't put bulbs. I managed to get them in today between sprinkles. I did this thinking that pansies were perennials. Turns out they're not. I'm pretty sure it was the ex what told me they were perennials. Even a quarter century later she tests me...
I also got some seeds for tomatoes (four kinds) and muskmelons (just one), and I was down in the basement planting them in this mini-greenhouse seed starter my mother gave me for Christmas a few years back. I tried it in 2005 (I think), but neglected the seedlings, so they roasted. So it goes. This time for sure!
I still had some seeds left over from that foray, so I planted a few of those, too. What the heck? I had plenty of room in the bio-dome, and if they don't germinate, I still have the seeds I bought this year. I did up the number of seeds per peat nugget to boost the statistical chances of something still being alive.
Once I had the seeds in their little peat packs, I added water to the base and waited an hour or two for capillary action to do its thing. Then I needed to find a place in my house that is relatively warm to stash the thing while the seeds germinated. That part was harder than I expected. It's been warm out, so the house has been warmish, too, but I usually keep the temperature below sixty at night and when I'm at work. The basement tends to be even colder. I suppose I could've put it on the furnace, but then if it stays warm out, it won't kick in. In the end I wound up stashing it behind my computer, right in line with the rear fans and their continuous 30° exhaust stream. Brilliant, if I say so myself.
