Foraging for Volunteers
Posted: March 31, 2019 Filed under: Gardening | Tags: Automatic Gardening, Black Eyed Susan, Gardening, Gulf Coast gardening, Hardy Gloxinia, Hinckley's Columbine, Oenothera grandiflora, Southern Gardening, subtropical climate, Subtropical Gardening, Year-round gardening 16 Comments
The Automatic Garden is full of plants that multiply in one way or another. The offspring does not always land in a bed. A Polka Dot plant came up in the cobble stones among leaves and Elm tree seedlings.
I love to forage around my yard looking for volunteers. This Black-eyed Susan is growing happily between the patio and grass.
It is always amazing how little soil is needed for a plant to germinate. A Columbine and Hardy Gloxinia are growing on this moss rock.
The Oenothera grandiflora preferred to grow in the grass and managed to survive several mowings.
I find plants cannot resist germinating in cracks. There are at least 3 different kinds plants started here. Over the last few weeks, I have been popping them up and replanting them where they belong.
They are everywhere! 😉
Mine love to move around and I generally let them. I don’t have the energy to move them all.
Some I don’t move. If seedlings are in a place where they won’t make it, I transplant them.
I have more than enough volunteers, but it is rather fun to find them. I’ve potted up a few for a native plant swap this next weekend, but it amounted to a teeny, tiny drop in the native plants bucket.
That is the way I got many of my plants.
Not being a gardener, I’m always amazed that you can identify plants at such an early stage. I am learning to spot some, like lyre-leaf sage, but it’s still really hard. I suppose one of the great advantages of gardening is that you get the experience of watching the whole process, and become familiar with it from the start.
Well, not always. I have left plenty of weeds grow before I realized they were weeds.
It is amazing where plants 🌱 settle themselves.
Amazing how life goes on unencumbered by us. I was just wondering what to do about the zillion Gallardias that came up, thin or leave them to duke it out
For me it depends on how much work I want to do.
Sometimes the seeds end up in an unexpected and wonderful place.
Waste not, want not! 🙂 I have Labrador violets that seem to love to germinate in the crack between the garage and driveway. It must be extra warm there in the sun.
I guess it makes a little micro environment.
The great thing about these volunteers is the fact that you may get something new and different.
True.
It is all fun and games until someone gets hurt. You might want to look at this amusing example:
https://tonytomeo.com/2017/11/15/epiphyte/
Wow.