Any Garden Surprises This Year?

[RoseMary]

Last April or May of 2008, I forget which, I planted some chicory seeds that I'd bought off of Ebay. The next few days afterward, we had very hard showers. I waited and waited for weeks, but nothing ever came up. Finally, I decided that the seed had all just washed away~until yesterday!!

I'd noticed some weedy looking plants coming up by the old stone heater house in our yard and just hadn't gotten around to weed eating them~thankfully:). I thought I'd share a few pics of my chicory!!

Have any of you had anything unexpected pop up this year?

[annielinz]

Rosemary what a wonderful surprise and that is a beautiful shade of blue!

My sweetpeas reseeded and came back, but I ended up pulling them out to make way for my hopefully future veggie garden.

[ChapterTwo]

;What a happy surprise, RoseMary...those he plants are so pretty! Honestly, I've never seen chicory before.

A couple years ago I suddenly had a Rose of Sharon tree, that was never there before...there are none in my yard or the neighborhood, so that was a real gift! ;)

[shadylady]

I have a kitchen garden at my back door and it has a little bit of everything there. I planted lots of herbs and flowers also. I have white woodland phlox growing there in 2 different spots. It was planted 3 years ago and just keeps multiplying...very pretty....this year there are pink blooms in there also. Never planted pink. I just wish that both groupings had some pink.....I'm afraid I'm one of those that likes balance.

[CohenCottage]

We had 6 or 7 tomato plants pop up where we had our garden last year. So, we just moved them to the square foot garden!

[RoseMary]

Cohen, I just love it when things come back unexpectedly. Last year, we had a lot of squash come up. This year, a pumpkin plant has come up.

I don't think I've seen white phlox~we have a lot of the pink and blue here.

I love Rose of Sharon. I wish one would 'pop up' here. I had a small one a few years ago, but the dog took naps on it and killed it:(.

I've never grown any sweet peas, but they smell so good!

[Heather]

This is a surprise - I have no idea what it is... and there are several of them in the herb garden. Anybody have a guess?

[RoseMary]

No idea~but they sure are pretty. What a nice surprise:).

[Zuzu's Garden]

Wow, Heather, at first I thought they looked like a pink Columbine. Out of curiosity, I Googled it and discovered there is such a thing! :eek::cool::D

I can't see the leaves on your plant too well, but check this out and see if any of these pics are similar.

Pink Coumbine (http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&q=pink%20columbine&sa=N&tab=wi&um=1)

RoseMary - I love the chicory! Very pretty.

My surprise this year are the wild strawberry plants I transplanted. They grow very small in the forest, and the berries are pea-size, but very juicy and sweet. I moved one last year, and it sent out runners and 12 new plants. This year it is the size of a regular strawberry plant! I've moved about 30 of them now to use as ground cover in the foundation garden, and have my fingers crossed that they will produce some yummy berries.

:)
Zu

[RoseMary]

Yum, strawberries sound good! I've never had wild ones, but I've heard that they are delicious!

I have some 'tame' ones coming on right now, but haven't eaten any just yet. I'll probably be able to pick about 6 or 7 of them today. Hopefully, next year, they'll bear a lot heavier. I hope that your wild ones give you lots and lots of berries!

[Heather]

Thank you Zuzu you were right about the columbine. There are several pink ones in the herb garden and one purple and one white each in other gardens. I dunno how they got there but oh well, I like them! Thanks again!

[ChapterTwo]

Heather, I started out with purple columbine many years ago...then, somehow, pink ones started coming too! Every year I get at least one new plant - they're really lovely, delicate flowers.

[ChapterTwo]

This photo is from last year, and it's not very picturesque...it's in front of my fireplace chimney...but I think the Columbine is so "fancy"! :)

[Breezy]

RoseMary - wow what a beautiful surprise!

Heather & C2 - lovely flowers!

[Zuzu's Garden]

Oh, thank you, Heather. The white and lavender Columbine is the official Colorado state flower and grows wild here in the mountains. When I saw your picture, I thought your flowers had the same characteristic spurs, and so was pleasantly surprised to find out it grows in different colors. Very pretty in pink!

Here is a link (http://www.ext.colostate.edu/PUBS/columngw/gr080531.html) w/ more info on names, colors, and care. I was delighted to learn more about this beautiful flower!

:)
Zu

[Heather]

I'll check it out Zuzu! I'm curious as to how it got to be there.... and in different gardens!

[Deb D]

This happens to me all the time--I call it garden amnesia. When the snow melts, I find things coming up that are a complete surprise. Then slowly I remember that I planted them. This year it was the 25 grecian windflower anemones.

I have a soft spot for plants that wander. When I started gardening here, I planted cream-colored california poppies. Now I find them coming up all over the place, which is OK with me. If they are some place I don't want them, I move them or pull them up. Same with larkspur and violas. Calendulas seed themselves in the raspberry patch every year, and nigellas between the irises. I have columbines, but haven't caught them wandering yet. Blue flax are great wanderers. Of course, some plants can get pesky, like the tomatoes seeds from the compost, or squash. I am finding baby black-eyed susans everywhere. Pretty sure they came out of the compost.

But, wandering plants are an easy way to get that relaxed cottage look in your garden.

[Lisa S]

I liken the awakening of my perennial garden to meeting old friends. I divided my peony last year and I'm thrilled that it's thriving this spring.

Speaking of wandering plants... my strawberry patch went from one raised bed to three. All of the neighbors have strawberry plants from my garden, I put some on the corner with a free sign and sadly to say, many of them ended up in my yard debris bin. What happened last winter that strawberries love?

[rubyslippers]

Well, amongst all that crazy ivy I salvaged some bulbs. To be honest, I have been waiting on churning up the ivy until I knew what these things were and evidently I have gobs and gobs of lilies. The first one is bright orange. We just found it today. Does this mean any sort of lily could survive in my light conditions? This is nice to know.

Bye all ...

Jenny

[RoseMary]

I wonder if you'll have any other colors, Jenny~I think those orange ones could bloom in a cave! I have lots of them and love them because they make such great 'fillers' , grow in the shade, and I rarely have to weed them as they are so thick. I know that you are supposed to divide them, but I haven't done that in over ten years:o, and they're still blooming:)!