Pit of Despair

I affectionately refer to the outdoor stairs leading to the basement as “The Pit of Despair.” This is where my winter-sown containers that did not germinate go to end their days. The green growth is, sadly, only weeds. My top non-germinating seeds were:

• Delphinium (I should just throw this package of seed out because they didn’t germinate last year either!)
• Ajuga
• Sweet Woodruff
• Wintergreen
• White Sweet Violet
• Butterfly Weed
• Astilbe
• Perennial Candytuft
• Snow in Summer
• Spicebush
• Bladdernut
• Yellowwood
  
  On the Winter Sowing forum, I’ve read that some seeds just take an extra year, so I plan on keeping these containers around until next spring, just in case. In the meantime, I keep checking them, looking for something familiar. (To add to the fun, the labeling has worn off all of these containers.) Once, I thought I had found a lone catmint seedling, so I bruised a leaf and rubbed it against my nose to identify it by odor. There was no smell, but my nose started tingling. The mystery plant turned out to be a nettle! Pit of Despair, indeed.
  
  I water the containers faithfully, and I’ve added a morning glory and black-eyed susan vine in pots to cover the window bars and add a cheery note to the bleak scene. I keep thinking that if I just wait long enough, I’ll be rewarded for my patience. Perhaps I should call it the Well of Hope, because I am not ready to give up and despair just yet.