Cool Freebies

Every year I'm amazed at how many "freebies" show up in the garden. I expect the perennials and the weeds to show up of course but tomatoes... melons... summer savoury? Yet there they were!
Many years ago, I planted a packet of seeds displaying stunning magenta-colored flowers. I thought they were an annual but every year they come up randomly throughout the garden. Sometimes I move some of the fledglings into a more desirable spot and sometimes I just pull them out like a weed. It is a member of the hibiscus family, I think. I like its height and the color it adds to the tool shed and lattice trellis:

But after a heavy rain I find the stalks bent over unable to bear the weight. My sunflowers did the same thing this year. Yes, yes I know I should have anchored them. They are very forgiving though, I find.

Quite cool to find this tomato plant thriving in rich soil next to my pink rose bush and hidden under another equally well-fed hibiscus-type freebie. It already had well-developed tomatoes on it by the time I spotted it and so I let it ripen but right after the taste-test I took this photo and then discarded the whole plant. To my dismay it lacked flavor and texture. While it had been robbing the rose bush of its nutrients it didn't get the necessary sun to warm and sweeten its fruit.

One of my biggest surprises was finding this hydrangea bloom all by itself next to a grassy plant and about five feet away from my largest hydrangea bush. After checking to see whether it wasn't simply a cluster off the large bush, I discovered that it was securely anchored in the soil. There were no green leaves, just this little cluster. Does it have an underground umbilical cord still attached to the mother plant? Hmmm...I might dig it up to see. Interesting.

Over the past five months I've fussed over the petunias...deadheading, feeding and watering. It's all totally worth it when I see the stunning results. So I must say I was dumbfounded to see this tenacious little floweret imbedded in this tiny crack on our driveway. It's been stepped on and parched...no TLC for this little thing and yet there it is bright-eyed and vigorous. The staying power of a seed is remarkable indeed. How did it get there? How does it survive? I don't have the heart to treat it like a weed.