Originally uploaded by tomygardenpath.

As a child, I used to see cotton growing the the fields when we went to visit my aunt in Oklahoma, not too far from Fort Smith, Arkansas. When I saw last spring that Pinetree Garden Seeds had added cotton to their seed list, I had to try it.
I started mine indoors, and it grew quickly, an inch a day, after it got going. I soon realized that I planted it way too early. In just a short while, I had floppy, foot tall plants. They did even worse when I tried to put them out to harden off. So, I waited a bit and put the seed in the ground. Every seed sprouted well, and grew to 2 inches, then died. I decided to try again next year.

I sent the rest of the seed to my mom in Oklahoma. She planted hers in a pot on her steps and waited for the seeds to sprout. My mom and I share a love of watching things grow. Over the summer, she has been updating me weekly on the cotton plants. Even her neighbors come over to check on the plants.

My niece took some photographs last week, and emailed them to me this morning. They are larger than I thought, since the catalog said cotton could be used as a houseplant. I am looking forward to having another try at raising it next spring.