A Passion for Seeds

This time of year, gardeners longingly browse seed catalogs and dream of summer flowers. Seeds are a huge part of my life and those who know me well can attest to my addiction to seeds. Yes, I am a seed hoarder. Admitting this is the first step to recovery. Only, I hope I never recover.

Perhaps it was the buckeye seed in my grandfather's desk drawer that first fascinated me. Smooth and round in my little hands, how I wished I could find my own! Or my childhood neighbors, bent among the rows of stretched-out string and neatly hoed gardens- planting their vegetable seeds: peas and corn. It was always the flowers in front that I liked best; row of four o'clocks, with seeds that look like little black hand-grenades!

As an adult, I have no control, my coat pockets are filled with seeds. Berries from a silky dogwood, pods from a rose-mallow, wheat-like heads of prairie grasses. My car's cup holders carry the overflow. Long stalks bearing the fruit of sedges, hardened pod from a Kentucky coffee tree, cap of an odd acorn, I can't help myself.

Seeds are the miracle of life: Nature's Microchips. These fascinating carriers of genetic coding come in every shape and size imaginable. No wonder I am enamored with them.

If you find seed fascinating too, be sure to click on the link above to an essay from the Wall Street Journal. George Ball, head of Burpee seed, makes a convincing argument for the future. Invest in seeds.