A space plant from a distant planet? Just looking at it makes you feel strange.
Misha: This time we’ll try growing Devil in a bush.
Hachibee: I heard it blooms into strangely shaped flowers that look like a spaceship with antennas all around.
Misha: That’s right. Not only do they bloom, but the seeds that grow there are also interesting shapes, like beach balls in color and shape.
Hachibee: Devil in a bush is a great name, isn’t it? This thing is no ordinary plant! Is it a “space plant” after all?
Misha: I’m intrigued by the rumors alone, so let’s start the Devil in a bush cultivation report!
Devil in a bush “almost weekly” cultivation report
10/1 Planting
Hachibee: The seeds of Devil in a bush are jet black.
Misha: The nickname Nigella comes from the Latin word Niger, which means black.
10/8 Not yet sprouted
Hachibee: I wonder how long it will take for them to germinate? It looks like a “space plant” so I can’t imagine.
10/15 Sprouted!
Hachibee: The sprouts appeared in two weeks!
Misha: Nigella is sometimes suspected of being a “space plant,” but its germination is normal, neither too early nor too late.
10/22 New leaves appear
Hachibee: Oh? Finally, strangely shaped leaves have appeared! It’s space after all…
Misha: It looks like an Earth plant.
10/29 Leaves growing
Hachibee: The leaf shape looks like crackling sparks. It’s space after all…
Misha: You just can’t get away from there.
11/5 The leaves start to grow
Hachibee: It seems like the leaves are becoming more delicate…
11/12 The leaves grow vertically
Hachibee: Are the leaves increasing? Are the stems getting longer? In any case, the branches and stems are starting to get longer!
11/19 The leaves begin to grow
Hachibee: Parsley? It has a rather unique way of growing.
11/26 The stem becomes thicker
Hachibee: You’ve gotten so strong all of a sudden!
Misha: The stems are wild, but the new leaves are the opposite – very delicate.
12/3 The stems grow further
Hachibee: Like the antennae of an unknown creature probing the ground…
Misha: It’s already December. The leaves of the devil in a bush grow in rosettes that stick to the ground and survive the winter.
12/10 Growth cessation
Hachibee: Are you finally ready for winter?
12/17 Take a break
Hachibee: The Devil in a bush stopped growing completely as December began, but its leaves still remain lush and green.
12/24 Rosette
Hachibee: It’s stuck, stuck! Sticking straight to the ground.
Misha: Do your best to survive the winter.
12/31 Overwintering
Hachibee: Hmm, no change.
1/7 Overwintering
Hachibee: They’re stuck to the ground so tightly that it looks like they’ve merged with the soil! And it looks like Misha has gone into hibernation as well. Ah…
1/14 Overwintering
Hachibee: It’s the coldest time of the year! Hang in there, Devil in a bush. And why is it that while I, a bee, am awake in the middle of winter explaining things, Misha, a human, falls asleep!? How absurd.
1/21 Overwintering
Hachibee: The grass isn’t moving. But the three leaves in the middle look a little more delicate than the others; I wonder if they’re temperature sensors? These are the only leaves that seem to be moving a little.
1/28 Still hibernating through the winter
Hachibee: I’m getting sleepy too.
2/4 Spring awakening
Hachibee: Today is the first day of February. Oh? It looks like the sensor-like leaf in the middle of the rosette of the Devil in a bush is standing up towards the sky!
Misha: Finally, Devil in a bush is starting to grow again.
2/11 New leaves start to appear
Hachibee: Wow, their growth has restarted! And it looks like Misha has woken up from hibernation as well.
Misha: Flowers and plants have the power to sense the early spring through sunlight and wind. I wonder how they sense it?
2/18 New leaves begin to sprout from the center of the plant.
Hachibee: The new leaves come out from the middle of the plant.
Misha: I’m sure this energy was stored by the surrounding leaves that survived the winter.
2/25 Leaf density increases rapidly
Hachibee: The engine is starting up!
Misha: The color, luster, and thickness of this stem. It really gives off a sense of vitality.
3/3 The stem begins to grow upwards
Hachibee: Oh! He’s finally standing up!
3/10 The stems start to grow upwards one after another.
Hachibee: It came all at once!
Misha: The density of the leaves has become incredible.
3/17 Continue to rise higher
Hachibee: It looks like the head of someone who’s been electrocuted.
Misha: Whether or not that analogy is good, it’s become a completely vertical dance.
3/24 Still rising higher
Hachibee: It’s getting to the point where it’s taller than it is wide.
Misha: The stems are getting thicker too.
4/7 The stem grows rapidly
Hachibee: It feels like the thickened stems are pushing the leaves, which have grown in volume, upwards. I can feel the power.
4/14 The trunk is formed
Hachibee: It has stems that grow into thick trunks, just like a conifer.
Misha: But the leaves are fluffy broadleaf. They have a strange shape.
4/21 A “head” appears at the tip of the trunk
Hachibee: Oh?! What is this!!
4/28 Buds begin to form
Hachibee: A ton of small, hard-looking things have been made!
Misha: Nigella buds. That’s a lot!
5/5 Buds appear
Hachibee: The buds form as if they are wrapped in something like a chestnut burr or a bird’s nest.
Misha: These chestnut-like things are called bracts. It’s a mysterious world how these things surround the buds.
5/12 Blooming!
Hachibee: It’s blooming! These are gorgeous petals.
Misha: Actually, these aren’t petals but sepals. Even though they’re sepals, there are single and double flowers, so it’s a very mysterious flower.
5/19 Full bloom
Hachibee: But look at those number of flowers! They’re blooming in such huge quantities it’s like a joke. And what’s that!? Something that looks like a beach ball has appeared!?
Misha: This beach ball-like thing is the fruit of the Devil in a bush.
5/26 All at once, from flower to fruit
Hachibee: Oh my goodness! The scenery has completely changed in just one week! It’s now a forest of beach balls!
Misha: It’s amazing how quickly those gorgeous flowers disappear and produce these huge beach ball-shaped fruits in such a short time. It’s like magic.
6/2 Fruit ripens
Hachibee: The two-tone color is becoming more vivid. And by the way, those antennae-like things at the tip look like they might start moving at any moment!
Misha: It’s a tube that used to be a pistil. But it’s longer than when it was a pistil, and it has a very mysterious and interesting shape.
6/9 Fruit ripening
Hachibee: It seems like the surface color is gradually fading.
6/16 The fruit ripens further
Hachibee: It feels like the sky is turning sepia. The Devil in a Bush fruit is not only interesting, but it also makes me feel a sense of melancholy.
6/23 Harvest
Hachibee: The berries of the Devil in a Bush turned completely sepia, as if to tell us that our souls had gone to heaven.
Misha: And then from spring to early summer, the nigella fruit breaks down and falls, leaving the black seeds in the soil. It was a very strange flower, but it was also cute and a lovely flower that made me feel a little sentimental at the end.
~One word! Devil in a bush cultivation tips~
Difficulty of cultivation：★☆☆☆☆
Plant in autumn, survive winter and bloom in spring
An annual plant with strong cold resistance
Recommended for beginners due to its robust vitality and vigorous reproductive power
The unusually shaped fruit and flower shape are worth a look
