Proof of magic.

The only two differences between a Hogwarts Transfiguration class and a seed turning into a plant is a wand and time.

In other words, if you can grow a plant from seed, you can perform magic.

Whenever I’m with my three-year-old daughter, I find the veil between reality and magic has thinned. The company of curious kids can do that. 

So when she and I were looking through my seed packets the other day and pouring them out to inspect, I found myself staring intently at some seeds that were hardly larger than a speck of dust. Then I looked at the picture on the seed packet. This iota of almost-nothing is destined to become a 6-ft tall stately native plant - Late Figwort (scrophularia marilandica). It will end up feeding pollinators, providing shelter, and offering shade, all while looking completely regal. 

How is this transformation not well-documented in the literature as actual magic? Dust into life? Tiny to gigantic? Unassuming blip to Met Gala icon?

I’m sure that if I spent time on the internet or talked with a botanist, I would learn precisely why the seeds are so small (likely related to wind, soil type, and/or critters around their native habitat). I could find out what dwells inside that seed, I truly have no idea. And how on earth (literally) these actual specks can possibly, truly, stunningly transform into such magnificent plants.

But knowing the science of it would not make it any less magical.

And then if I looked into the history of Late Figwort, I’d probably find an origin story that made me go “Oooooohhh, cool!” And another puzzle piece would snap into place.

Still not any less magical.

Mother Nature is a queen, and queens have their secrets. She may let us in on some of them. But we’ll never know it all and there will always be a lingering “how?” or “why?” Yes, but how does the seed know when to start germinating? The more we ask, and the more answers we find, the more we realize how little we know. Isn’t that how it always goes? But y’all, that’s where the magic is. 

Stay curious, stay informed, allow magic.