AboutOrchids

If you’ve ever decided that a weed was pretty, you’ll understand the botanical definition of “volunteer.” A volunteer is a plant that arrives in a garden, usually as seed, blown by wind or carried by bird. It’s a weed if you don’t want to keep it; it’s a volunteer if you do. My rule of thumb is that if it has nice flowers, and isn’t too invasive, it can stay. Most are annuals that re-seed, and are very low maintenance. For example, here are three volunteers which have arrived in our garden over the years: a Forget-Me-Not, a Geranium, and a Nasturtium.

Of course, most plants in our garden are deliberate introductions, not accidental arrivals. Native to Italy, tiny green leaves of Baby’s Tears arrived as decoration in a bonsai pot. They loved San Francisco’s Mediterranean climate, and were easy to propagate. Now they form great ground-covering masses wherever they find regular moisture, and add green to garden nooks. The next photo shows a yellow Freesia bloom, but a photo can’t capture its great fragrance. Native to South Africa, Freesias do well in our mild climate. The third photo shows a blue Love-in-the-Mist flower bud among lacy leaves.

Our April garden also includes perennials, like purple African Daisies, a brilliant red Sage, and a bright blue Solanum. Also known as the Blue Potato Bush, Solanum is in the Nightshade family, and a relative of potatoes, tomatoes, and eggplants. Ours came to us when we rescued a neighbor’s discarded plant, and nursed it back to health. No matter how they’ve found their way to our backyard, they’re all putting up a great spring show.

Explore posts in the same categories: General Gardening, Photos

This entry was posted on Sunday, April 25th, 2010 at 9:15 pm and is filed under General Gardening, Photos.

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