brassica, helianthus, zea

all twelve of the cauliflower seeds i stared for the community garden have erupted from the peat pellets...twenty days to transplant in the cucumber bed...then purple cauliflower this autumn...the jerusalem artichokes in the bed on the south side of the house continue to bloom...easy to see that they are part of the sunflower family....and the two sturdy northern tepehuan teosinte plants in the bottom photo are beginning to flower which bodes well for seeds if the weather holds long enough...any number of teosinte plants on campus to cross pollinate with...the hopi blue is flowering as well...gene flow from ancestor to domesticate? traditional agriculturalusts in mexico and peru who grow "wild and weedy ancestors" around the margins of thier potato and maize fields say the plants make their crops "stronger" [brush]...perhaps they will be allies here as well.