Really let it be or Calling all volunteers

[F, Calla & Luca]

This post is part of a series of my gardening philosophy, none of which is unique to me. A volunteer is " a plant that grows on its own, rather than being deliberately planted by a human farmer or gardener. Volunteers often grow from seeds that float in on the wind, are dropped by birds, or are inadvertently mixed into compost before it is used." I f you want volunteers, it helps to garden like I do, that is don't do much, if any, cleanup. I mow and mulch back into the lawn, collecting no clippings. The flower and shrubbery beds are never really cleaned out but occasionally neatened up. If you let things be like this you not only save lots of work, preserve water, and get better soil but you can get delightful surprises, and some not so delightful surprises too. I have taken pictures of some of my volunteers. Some I'll leave where they are, some I'll transplant, some I'll just pill out and others I'll give away.
Please feel free to add pictures or stories of your volunteers.

[F, Calla & Luca]

Here are three red maple seedlings.
Calla and a red maple growing through the fence.

Unfortunately a lot of other tree seedlings like to plant themselves, too.

The vinca here came home as tiny cuttings from my sisters California garden and grows beautifully every year, but that's another chapter.

[Nina, Phil, Harlow & Lacey]

I love volunteers. I haven't replanted Impatiens for years in my shady areas. They have done a great job on their own of reseeding. This year may be different though, due to a much colder winter than the past few.

[F, Calla & Luca]

It always pays to wait and see.

[F, Calla & Luca]

The edges of my property and some whole gardens are full of voluteers. Some of the plants may have been planted before my time but their offspring have spread, one way or another and populated whole areas.
This is one of those gardens.

And a nearby clematis just added a volunteer to the mix.

[F, Calla & Luca]

This whole mountain rue shrub, which will soon be covered in clusters of pretty white flowers, planted itself.

[F, Calla & Luca]

Here is a wild columbine about to bloom.

It inspired me to start a columbine "patch". Here is last year's addition, about to bloom. I don't know what it will look like, if I saw the flowers I can't remember them.

Of course, I already accidentally started to buy more plants this year. Here is the next columbine addition. I love to browse and buy but I'm not so keen on planting.

I

[F, Calla & Luca]

Here is the mountain rue now.

And even the tiniest of flowers are so pretty close up.

[Ann Kendig]

Very beautiful! Wow!

[F, Calla & Luca]

Thanks.

[Maryann,Roo and Tigger]

I love your philosophy of let it be. I acquired all the violets in my backyard in a load of mulch. Unfortunately my neighbor has a huge pin oak - it looks quite a bit like a midwestern elm and it is so invasive and seeds itself everywhere. I have to keep on top of those seedlings and a certain palm that also seeds itself with abandon. Both are very tough to destroy once they get mor than a few inches high and will crowd out everything. Neither have much good to say for themselves. The pin oak is exttemely messy and has very sticky dripping leaf sap for much of the year. As I mentioned before I have several kinds of oxalis which appear at various times of the year. I consider them benevolent as they crowd out other less desirable weeds and provide shade for roots in the very hot weather. I love your vinca. I have lots of it as a ground cover in the back as it is excellent competition for the pin oak seedlings. I have several perennials like rudbeckia. The rudbeckia, wallflower and gaillardia tend to revert to their dominant yellow color when they come up again, even though they are supposed to remain true. Only my red rudeckia have stayed true so far. I wonder why. Any ideas?

[F, Calla & Luca]

Oftentimes, the seeds of cultivars will not come true.They revert to "ancestral" traits. I don't know why some do this and some don't.To get plants that are the same as the parents in those cases you have to either divide the parents, make cuttings and root them, air layer, etc. I always have something in a pot of water rooting, even indoors in the winter. If you look at the last picture above, you can see some things in a white cup, and in a coffee can, to the right of the columbine and behind the hosta. I'm always taking cuttings from friends and family. I also often have plants waiting for planting since I "accidentally" buy plants frequently.

[Ann Kendig]

One of these days I'll have a garden again. I loved the surprises of volunteers that popped up each year at my old house.
I love the photos and the beautiful columbine in the bottom photo. Maybe some day I'll be able to add some photos too!