Plant babies (3.15)

Okay, I know you will think I am making this up, but this is actual growth in the past few days.....here are my plant babies as of today.....These are the little oriental poppies (below)....they are still looking a little like moss, but I have high hopes for them to turn into brilliant red poppies someday.This one is my most favorite because it shows truly how tall they are growing. I needed a point of reference so I used my blackberry (right side)....not kidding!I didn't get to garden last weekend because of the stormy weather, but of course it was gorgeous today since I was at work. Isn't that how it always turns out? Oh well....gardening will come soon....until then, I am loving my little plant babies. If only the bells of Ireland would grow - so far they are the only duds in the box.....which is disappointing because they're such beautiful plants. I used green B.o.I in my wedding flowers (despite some people's beliefs they are funeral flowers) because I think they're fantastic - and I think the solid green are NOT funeral-looking. (example below)
To answer the questions I have received in the comments and via email.....

- You can buy the little grow boxes at any home store (Home Depot, Lowes, Smith's Marketplace, Wal-mart, etc). Seeds can be purchased anywhere, but I am partial to buying from Home Depot since it's close to my house and I can't tell a difference when I grow seeds from a nursery vs HD.

- Sometimes they transfer successfully from their pods to the ground - and other times they shrivel and die. The grow boxes are always a risky experiment because I fall in love with them and then sometimes they break my heart. I plant 72 pods so that even if most die, I am still left with a few pods to plant.

- I waste/spend (choose the word you believe based on your gardening beliefs) literally hundreds of dollars annually on gardening....although sadly you probably can't tell based on my yard. There are probably cheaper and better ways to garden (i.e. more grow boxes, as they are relatively inexpensive compared to the flats of flowers I will buy in mid-May, spread plants further apart to cover more ground space, more veggies/fewer flowers), but I like my version. I only risk 72 pods of grow boxes because (as mentioned) they are risky and I am super sad if/when the pods die. That's not pessimism - it's realism.

- In the past I have alternated power-raking my lawn with aerating, but have decided in the past two years that power-raking is no longer suiting my fancy so I'm sticking with only aerating. I have a darling neighbor boy that does it for a good price so let me know if you're in the SLC area and want his name & number.

Happy gardening!