If you know me by now, you’ll know how getting new “babies” for the garden makes my day. Several new passalong plants have found their way to me:

Young red jambu plant

A red jambu seedling that a family friend couldn’t resist trying to sprout upon finding the unusually large seed in the fruit she was eating. Since the fruit was sweet, she thought it would be interesting to try planting the seed. And since I’m now known for growing plants, I “inherited” the seedling!

And I’ve also got several young plants from Sky:

Plains coreopsis - hope they'll flower for me!

Seedling of the intriguingly-named peanut butter plant.

Calendula officinalis seedlings - a different variety of marigold from what I've got.

Thank you, Sky, for the above passalongs! 8)

There have also been several new additions to the “seed bank”. A good friend knows I like growing edibles and has passed me several types of seeds so we can find out if the plants can grow here. Of course, my challenge is that I know know nothing about these plants, but will give it a try, with the initial planting being the “acquaintance” round. It may go well, and it may not; hopefully when it’s over, I’ll understand the plants enough to be able to have a successful harvest at least at the next planting, if they like growing here.

Looks like a pharmacy but it's just my new seeds to experiment with: (from top left) sweet pepper, Kiwano, mixed salad, aubergine, and two varieties of beans.

These are the seeds in question:

• Fagiolo Borlotto Nano Lingua Di Fuoco (Phaseolus vulgaris) – red & white podded beans
• Fagiolo Nano Solido (Phaseolus vulgaris) – normal beans
• Melanzana Violetta Di Firenze (Solanum melongena) – aubergine
• Peperone Friarello (Capsicum annuum) – sweet pepper (I think!)
• Kiwano / Horned Melon (Momordica charantia)
• Salad mix (Lactuca sativa)

If you’ve grown these plants and have any tips or information on growing (and eating) them, I’d love it if you left a comment here! I think these are western European varieties that I may face a challenge growing here in the tropics.

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