Garden volunteers are plants that grow by accident. I’ve had volunteers from many plants, but this sunflower is funny.

Garden Volunteers: Sunflowers

I love sunflowers. They didn’t grow very well for us on Long Island, and the chipmunks got most of the seeds. We had one very fat chipmunk living in the drain pipe next to our patio at our old house on Long Island. My father in law would plant sunflower seeds in the garden bed next to the drain pipe. We’d catch the rotund chipmunk digging in the soil, stuffing his cheeks full of seeds, and racing back for the safety of his drain pipe. My husband always wondered if the little creature grew to be any fatter, would he get stuck inside?

I haven’t seen any chipmunks on our little farm, and the sunflowers we grow are grown against the long southern wall of the house. Last fall I was lazy and didn’t take the sunflower seed heads in like I did the previous year. The birds found them quickly, and we had a wonderful show of goldfinches and other birds on the abondoned seed heads.

I thought no more about it until this spring when we noticed “weeds” growing among the shrubs on that side of the house. The weeds quickly grew into sunflowers – and because they got such an early start, they’re blooming today, in June instead of August.

Pink clashes with the red – but the petunias had other ideas!

Another group of volunteers that appeared just a few weeks ago are the pink petunias shown in this picture. I planted red – clear red – to make a nice contrast with all the yellows and oranges going on in the garden. Pink clashes. The petunias beg to differ. All along the area where I planted pink petunias last year are newly emerged volunteers.

My front window boxes are planted with geraniums that I wintered over. This year, more volunteers emerged – geranium seedlings! Today we counted four altogether. They grew in the oddest places. Some are tucked up under the damp shelter of the azaleas, a few are under the porch overhang, and one is just next to the sidewalk. Honestly, if I tried to start seeds there they’d never come up, but these seeds found a way!

Lastly, I’ve got clusters of pansies growing under the shady stone wall of my back deck. I’ve planted lots of pansies there in previous years, but this year switched over to impatiens. Then I noticed the pansies coming up all over the place. I’ve got white and yellow pansies nodding among the impatiens.

Garden volunteers offer fun surprises. You never know what you’re going to get when the plants start seeding everywhere. It works for my unsophisticated country casual design where anything goes. My plants know where to grow!