I was searching for another answer when I came across this post so I thought I would chime in. Mine have been sprouting for three days now and I only planted them on the 14th. All I did, and I'm new so I was trying to be creative, was put one seed in the middle of each those little Jiffy pack things (after I added water of course), place the mini greenhouse that came with the little Jiffy pack things on a wicker table without the glass top and put the table over one of my heat registers. I put a thermometer on top of the tray and the air temp. swings between 65F-75F all day. The soil is probably a little more moderated and I'm betting stays around 70F. I didn't soak, nick, file or violate the seeds in any way, just planted them directly in the mix. So far, 9 out of 12 are sprouting.

Well.... Looks like the majority of them are a very pale lilac with a light purple throat but I could have sworn that the first one was white with a light purple throat... ( I'm letting a seed pod develop on that one! ) It sure is an interesting flower... They start to open around 5 PM then stay open till about 8 AM... Even the small, 5 or 6 inches high, plants are developing flower buds... When they're open they resemble swirly five pointed stars... Every last one of them stands straight up at the top of the plant... I half expected them to be much larger though... These are only about 2 inches across and about four inches long ( not counting the green )... But then again they may be smaller because they don't get full sun... As for the scent of the flowers... Well it's hard to say, my sniffer isn't working properly ( LOL )... Although I don't think anything can top the scent of an Aphrodite Hosta in full bloom... Rita

I agree about so many plants being poison. The farming/ranching community and those who live in town do have different views on things such as this. In town, our domestic animals are more picky about what they eat (in most cases) than livestock are. So we tend not to worry. My mother loved the tropical look of castor bean plants. She had a whole row of them along the back fence. As a little girl, I used to collect the pretty beans and play with them. What if I had put one of them in my mouth and accidentally swallowed it? Well, I wouldn't be here today. And back in the 50's they probably wouldn't have even been able to figure out what it was that offed me. LOCAL CHILD DIES MYSTERIOUSLY.... The beans are too pretty, I wouldn't ever plant a castor bean seed where children are apt to be. However, I can't remember the last time I saw any child munching on leaves, so I think the other things are relatively safe. The human race is still learning about the medicinal properties of plants. Many can be beneficial for what ails you if you know what you're doing, but can be lethal if you don't! I watched a program recently that reported there are scientists who are collecting seed of every kind of plant they can find, for long-term storage, because all is still not known about the healing properties of many plants and they're afraid something will go extinct before they discover that it has a substance in it that cures cancer or AIDS, etc. Native Americans knew that chewing the bark of a willow tree would cure headaches. Aspirin, one of the safest and most widely used drugs in our country, used to be made from an extract of the bark. Now it's made synthetically, I believe. If you go to Wikipedia and enter the name of an herb or a flower, there will most likely be a section of how it has been used medicinally. This was one of the skills of the Native American medicine man. He knew his plants. It was a skill that was handed down for generations. But in my youth, doctors had low opinions of those who used "natural" remedies, suggesting there was no possible way anything like that could even work, and believing the patient would waste time in healing by going down that path. It is amazing to me how things swing back and forth within a long period of time. Now, in my so-called "golden years", doctors have started actually recommending the use of certain herbal remedies, and the eating of certain foods. I also read that the "witches of Salem" were actually victims of hallucinations brought on by ingesting mold on rye bread, which was a staple in the community. This mold was similar to LSD. No, I'm not a witch, or even leaning in that direction, should anyone wonder. But isn't it interesting when you consider the possibilities of the plants around us? (I wonder if Bermuda grass has any healing properties) ;~)

How cool is that, a living curtain. They grow the curtains from vines often in Japan.