DEMO DIVA

Back in the garden and surrendering to mother nature who has decided to challenge me. Today my blood counts are dropping and at the same time it's 96 degrees outside putting my body under additional duress. Will be spending a lot of time meditating in a cool bath tub today and drinking water spiked with fresh lemon and mangosteen juice from Trader Joe's.
My garden has sprouted job's tears which helped me support myself as an artist for many years on Kauai. I made and sold hundreds of pieces of jewelry fashioned from these marvelous seed beads. I have planted them in the garden the last three years from seeds and have had wonderful full stalks but no seeds. I've used various methods of propagation, starting them indoors in early spring which didn't produce seeds and then planting them directly in the ground, lot's of green leaves but still no seeds. This year I planted nothing and even though they produced no seed over the last three years I have beautiful wild job's tears that the menehunes planted for me. Any suggestions for making the seeds bloom would be much appreciated. Making artwork and crafts from things I grow myself is an ultimate high for me. Watching a plant grow and then transforming it into a decorative or useful item is ecstasy for me. I became fascinated with gourds when I was studying hula and had to make my own ipu drum out of a dried gourd. The Hawaiians grew enormous gourds and had amazing drums. When I tried to grow them in Hawaii I couldn't even get a plant started. I have a long fence to utilize and I've finally found a formula to discourage the nasty squash beetles that have ruined the vines. I mix water, canola oil, Chinese long hot peppers, garlic cloves, dish soap and a drop of peppermint extract let it steep overnight and then douse the plants on a dry day ! yeah I think I've managed to outwit the little buggers ! The other Hawaiian plant that is thriving is Kahili ginger. I bought a plant in a bag at the ABC store in Waikiki in April 2008 when I was visiting my boys. I potted it and have nurtured it in a sunny basement window since then. When I knew I wouldn't be able to care for in indoors I put it outside and I think I'm going to get some flowers from it which will fill my space with the most intoxicating scent in the world. The pictures are of the creations from last year's gourd harvest. I've dried and prepped a third one and it is definitely a planter but I'm waiting for it to inspire me. It's leaning towards Hawaiian style !