Today's flowers #56 - Kiss me over the garden gate

Kiss-me-over-the-garden-gate! WOW, have you heard of such a name? ... that must be one of the longest names given to a plant! Also, I have these images of young couples sneaking kisses over the garden gate, don't you? A couple of years ago, a friend gave me KMOTGG seeds. She told me that they are heirloom seeds and described to me what the stems would look like so that I would not mistake it with a weed. Unfortunately no plants came up. Since then I learned that the seeds need a cold period before they will germinate. It was suggested that storing them in the refrigerator should do the trick, or store them in a cool garage or basement before planting them in the early spring.
I saw her again in the early spring of this year and told her that I didn't have any luck sowing those seeds. The following day she gave me eight plants that are already about 6-8 inches tall. I shared four to a few friends.
It's hard for me to describe the stems, so I took a picture. It almost looks like bamboo; with rings and that thingy covering it. :)


And here they are now, standing tall!


I just love these tiny bell-shaped, slightly fragrant, delicate pink flowers, elegantly draping the large heart-shaped leaves. It's too bad Japanese beetles devoured some of the leaves. I go around almost every afternoon with a soapy water container picking and drowning those pesky beetles!


Here's a close-up of these rare and colorful plants of yesteryear. I'm hoping that I will have more next year because although kmotgg is an annual the flowers produce seeds for new plants in the spring.


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