All the Dirt on Gardening

Tired of the same old petunias and zinnias? How about Eyeball Spilanthes? The Eyeball flower has been in the seed catalogs for a few years and looks so cute, that this year I bought seeds from Garden Medicinals and Culinaries . The flowers are described as olive shaped. They come in pink-burgundy and yellow-orange color combinations. The germination rate of my indoor seed sowing is impressive and so far I have about 60-tiny seedlings. A Zone 10 native of South America and Africa, this humidity and heat loving plant grows to about one-foot tall, blooms until the first hard freeze and is said to make great cut flowers that last for several days in the vase. my seedlings this morning Herbalists refer to the plant as the toothache plant because chewing the leaves will numb gums after the chemicals first make your tongue tingle. Tinctures are used for earaches, immunity boosting, Lyme disease and malaria. For a thorough coverage of the plant's benefits click on Cove Rock Farm Life blog...