A Pox Upon Me

It seems that I've become afflicted with chicken pox. Having a pox makes me feel very contagious. I'm just glad it's not smallpox. Anyway, I don't feel all that bad, but I don't feel great either so I haven't been able to go outside to work as much. But before the pox struck me down completely I took some cuttings for my garden, including Salvia sagittata and Penstemon azureus. I have also to report that my attempts at moonflower (Ipomoea alba) germination have not been terribly successful. Out of about 6 seeds one germinated and it's not doing too well. My problem is that the cotyledons poke out of the soil but are stuck together in what's left of the seed coat. I've tried to just leave the seed remnants on there to let the plant shed them off naturally, but that never happens, the seedling just rots away, as it does when I try to pull the remnants off myself. If anyone has any ideas or suggestions about this please let me know. This whole thing is becoming disheartening! I expected to have these vines eagerly clambering about by now, preparing to bloom! But on a positive note I have several vigorously growing Datura seedlings right now and and several little Salvias of various parentages.