I am intrigued by so many! I like the ones, such as Canterbury bells and rose campion, that pour from their little cups. I like balsam because after it explodes, the seeds are practically self-cleaning. All you have to do is pick out the little pod curls. I like the ones such as dill, Queen Anne's lace, and 4 o'clocks that sit on top of the stem and say, "Pick me! Pick me!" My favorite today is blackberry lily. They're so beautiful, easy to clean, and really do look like a little cluster of blackberries. The only ones I don't enjoy are the dusty ones such as strawflower and ageratum because they're nearly impossible to clean. pitimpinae, on the petunia seeds ... after the pod opens, I pinch it off at the base, usually with the little green spikes attached (not leaves but the green at the base of the pod ... don't know correct name) and put them in a small bowl or cup. I leave them for a day or so and swish the pods around a few times. Then I pour them through a small strainer with a bowl under it. All those seeds, including the ones that stuck to the green spiky things just pour into the bowl. I wouldn't have the patience to tie them the way you do.

hi there - so i've been lurking to wait for more info and pics of your plants. actually, they seem to look pretty good, what are the indicators that they're not doing well - the fact that they're not growing quickly? generally succulents will be slow growers, especially if they're not getting a lot of sunlight. your herbs are growing quickly because a) herbs (and it seems lots of leafy plants) grow quickly in general and b) they're outside getting a lot of sun. just reiterating what everyone else has said, but i definitely would not water them at the same rate as the herbs. Also, the burrito tail, and any succulent that has particularly fat and juicy leaves will need less water than other succulents (elephant snack) because they are retaining a lot more water in those plump leaves. finally, in general, while the container size might not seem large, I think people are just wondering about the soil ratio - basically, if there is too much soil (due to not enough of a gritty mix, or due to a too-large pot and etc), then water stays in there longer than it takes for the roots to take them in, which then causes root rot. One thing about the pots (which are super cute btw) is that even though the pots have drainage holes, the way they are constructed (tall with a smaller opening) means less top surface area, which means slower rate of moisture evaporation, and so the soil will stay wetter for longer. anyway, all this just to say: water them a little less, like maybe just once every 2 weeks, and the watering doesn't have to be a total drench. if water is not coming out of the hole, that's ok! definitely if you can "let them out" and sit in the sun sometimes, i am sure they'd appreciate that. see how that goes before you go crazy trying to mix up the soil and disturb your plants. definitely if you figure out how to create your gritty mix then by all means do, but for now, yeah, less water and a some more sun. also, sorry for being wordy - not trying to be too technical, but i just tend to like understanding reasons for why things work the way they do.

I hate killing plants, or even letting them die a natural death for annuals. With that, I brought in a wide variety of plants, knowing the two choices were in my unheated, northwest facing front porch (I live in a Philly, so the shadows from the neighbors' rowhomes across the street only give our porch about 5-6 hours of sunlight per day in winter) or underneath an old fluorescent lamp that I propped up with our two chairs we use in the garden. Amazingly, the parsley (a biennial) AND a brocolli plant (I know it's not an herb, but, even though it's not produce anymore, it still had beautiful flowers, followed by pods of seeds, and blue-green huge leaves, so is still fun to watch) survived the winter out on the unheated porch. The only herb to survive the winter upstairs under the fluorescent light was my bay, and that didn't do anything all winter -- including grow or dying, so I was just happy it survived. The majority of the plants brought in didn't survive winter (or me, I'm not the greatest gardener in the world), however, we did have cherry tomatoes straight off the bush for Thanksgiving, Christmas AND New Years. (Had a single stalk of home-grown brocolli for Christmas, too. LOL) Living in a rowhome, we have windows only on two sides of the house, but, for a variety of reasons, the only ones available were the northwest ones out in the unheated porch. We improvised with the fluorescent lamp, by keeping it on and the ceiling light on for 12 hours per day (or night, if we forgot to turn it on in the morning.) If you don't have the proper facing windows and you can't afford the speciality gro-lights and plant stands, regular fluorescent propped up on the back of chairs (with plants on the chair's too for balance) worked for us. The only thing I'd suggest before going with whatever you want, is to do some research on the plants' needs and ultimate size. For instance, yes, you can grow dill on a window sill in a pot, but watch out when it's time for it to bloom - they shoot up to 4-6 feet high and get quite top heavy, especially when it sets seed. Dill smells good, but is probably annoying if it keeps tickling you as you're trying to do the dishes. LOL Also, realize, unless you have the magic touch, not all will sprout or make it in your environment.

'Tombrooklyn', I'm growing Genovese Basil indoors right now. It's the first herb I've tried growing and I'm glad I did. It's still only about 4" tall but it has a really nice spicy fragrance. I think I'll always have at least one herb growing from now on. It's that nice to have around. And once the plant gets big enough I'll start using the leaves. Hope this helps. BTW, I'm just growing tomatoes, sweet peppers and basil under a couple of 4-ft shoplights with CFL's hitting the plants from the sides. It's working halfway decently for me. Jeff