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unusual question...need dense, low growing herb for proposal

Posted: Thu Nov 10, 2011 9:48 am
by rs33
Looking for a creative, organic way to propose to my girlfriend.
She loves herb gardening, prefers living gifts and I think this might be perfect.

The idea is to give her a planter with the seeds already planted in the shape of the words "marry me" with an arrow, and have the ring buried in a small wooden box at the end of the planter. Then wait for the words to sprout up so she can find the ring.

In order to make this work, I need an herb that is
A. easy to grow from seed, don't want a letter missing
B. dense, so the wording is obvious.

Ideas? Thanks in advance

-R

Posted: Thu Nov 10, 2011 9:53 am
by lorax
Chia (Salvia hispanica) comes to mind, as do purple and elephant basil. All are fast sprouters, and if you seed densely you'll get the effect you're after.

Posted: Thu Nov 10, 2011 11:18 am
by applestar
Almost any fast sprouting seeds would work -- I would go with seeds that sprout well at room temp where you are -- perhaps even radish, cabbage, broccoli. Basil have choice of fragrance and red cabbage and red kale would add color when true leaves grow out.

MOST important consideration is to set up lights close to surface of the soil so the seedlings grow strong and not spindly. Check out Seed Starting Forum for discussions and ideas.

Posted: Thu Nov 10, 2011 2:09 pm
by PunkRotten
What a cool proposal idea. :)

Posted: Thu Nov 10, 2011 3:43 pm
by JessicaAtMasterGardening
I would try onions (seeds not bulbs). The sprout up really fast and straight, will make it easy to spell out something with them. Very cute idea! Good luck!

Posted: Sat Nov 12, 2011 4:44 pm
by thurkun
Catgrass can be planted densely and would be easy to spell with and both felines and humans can eat it.
Chives would grow straight but I'm not sure how well they start from seed.
Basil seeds sprout easily but the message would rapidly become unreadable as the plants grew.
The chives and catgrass could be cutback to keep the message recognizable for a while or you could just cook with the results.
Pat

Posted: Sat Nov 26, 2011 12:34 pm
by Runningtrails
Chia would be my recommendation too! Romantic idea!

Posted: Sat Nov 26, 2011 3:59 pm
by lily51
All good ideas for a romantic proposal. My only advice,as a woman who has been married 39 years is to remember the romance as the decades go by.