Over July 4th, I sowed about 36 seeds of Passiflora Edulis, from an actual 3" fruit grown near Santa Barbara (CA) that I bought at Draeger's. I put the pulp on a piece of cheesecake, but saved the seeds.
Two weeks later, 2 of them sprouted. Typical of passionfruit, they vigorously grew to 4-leaf seedlings in a week. Some of the slower starters also sprouted, so I got 4 seedlings from 36 seeds.
Encouraged by this success, I found on eBay a Canadian seed seller selling 15 Cananga Odorata (Ylang Ylang) seeds for $5. They arrived this week. I have to buy new seed medium and really baby these guys. I hope I get a better germination rate than the passiflora.
Meanwhile, my roses LOVED the 2-week long, nearly 100 degree heat wave! They're all blooming as if it were spring! My Graham Thomas English rose, which I actually considered throwing away because the flowers only had about 30 petals, has suddenly decided to be more true to form and have made many blossoms on long, nodding branches, each a shallow cup shape with more than a hundred golden yellow petals. I guess it knew it was headed for the trash bin.
