Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds

As a floral designer and gardener I have an insatiable hunger for new materials to work with. Is this part of our modern society, to always be on the hunt for the next thing? I guess I only need remember the plant explorers of past centuries for that answer. Men and yes, women too, who put their lives literally on the line in the constant search for plants to intoxicate with their beauty, to consume, alter our states of consciousness, heal our bodies.....etcetera, etcetera. 

So my new discovery is a Heirloom Chocolate Morning Glory that's just coming into bloom in my garden after being planted from seed in the spring. It's a one day only blossom though using a length of vine cutting with large enough flower buds in water will provide subsequent blooms. Wow! For those of you who know my love of browned out flowers, well here it is. And I needn't go any further than Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds in Petaluma for my expedition: http://www.rareseeds.com/ 

The store is located in a venerable old bank in downtown Petaluma, befitting young Jere Gettle and his mid-west based company's mission to save seed varieties from around the world (by their count around 1600). They have become a tool to promote and preserve our agricultural and culinary heritage. There are three stores across the county, a magazine, and yearly festivals. We're lucky to have the National Heirloom Festival put on by Baker Creek, held annually up north in Santa Rosa in early September. This is a real hoe down featuring growers, speakers, and like minded organizations amidst a backdrop of amazing vegetables. 

Best of all is the enormous winter squash mountain carefully built squash by squash to a towering height- but back to the Morning Glory...