Is this the smallest mandrake ever? Before you say this is only a seedling the plant is actually over a year old!
There were originally 5 seedlings and I was feeling very pleased that I'd managed to germinate all but one of the seeds I'd planted. Unfortunately I was away for a few days during a viscious cold snap last January and when I got back the seedlings were dying off.
Mandrakes have a reputation for going dormant for months on end and then starting to regrow but these seedlings were only a few weeks old and I wasn't expecting them to have the reserves to do that. However I left the pot untouched more in hope than expectation.
Well as you can see I was wrong! One popped up again just after Christmas and is just starting to grow a second leaf. This year's batch of seedlings dwarf it already.
