In April, after he had planted in the terra-cotta pots outside his window seedling plants of mignonette and convolvulus, he would go and give them a little pull by their leaves to make them grow faster.
Wanneer hij in April in de bloempotten van zijn vertrek stammetjes reseda of volubilis geplant had, ging hij regelmatig iederen morgen aan de blaadjes trekken om hun groei te verhaasten.