We’ve all had them. Plants that sprout up in places we never planted them. It’s not so hard to figure out — grass in the flower patch, dandelions in the lawn, clover in the vegetable garden. Most likely, in these cases, the plants would be called weeds.
Weeds – my definition of a weed is any plant that comes up in a place you don’t want it to grow. I probably learned that from another long-time gardener friend.
So even a popular plant such as an Oak tree that comes up in the middle of the groomed lawn of your front yard could be called a weed.
Now, if you want to grow an Oak tree, once the ‘weed’ has its second set of leaves, you can transplant it to a pot and later to the desired location in your yard. In that case, it is a perfect volunteer plant.
Seeds are spread by the wind, dropped by birds, carried in the compost pile, or merely fall from plants last season. These unintended plants either add chores or whimsy to your garden. Even unplanned, a volunteer can add color, food, or structure to your garden.
A Pain in the Neck
I prefer focusing on the positive side of life, but I experienced the invasion of a plant I once put into a pot. Ruellia brittoniana ‘Purple Showers’ or Mexican Petunia.
I like this plant because of the deep purple flowers and the three-foot height that gives stature to a pot. Before I knew it, Ruellia plants were coming up all around the planter. We quickly removed them as they were unwanted.
But next season, there were Ruellia everywhere, and the neighboring beds became root bound with the deeply-rooted plant. They already had taken hold of the soil and no fun to try to erradicate.
(Side note: I have recently heard that some new cultivars have been developed that are showing to be far less invasive. Look for Ruellia MayanTM)
The Positive Side of Volunteers
Self-Seeding Annual Flowers
Many volunteers are in the category of self-seeding annuals. These volunteer Alyssum is a familiar example and was a delightful and fragrant surprise one winter in Tucson.
The containers on the wall were full of little flowers. Watered by irrigation, the runoff would drain onto the ground on the outside of the walled patio. Lit by a western sun, the seeds readily germinated and provided casual passersby a special show.
Volunteers Add Whimsy to your Garden
In this narrow garden of an urban townhome, the owner created a postage stamp garden where she could go out, feed the birds and enjoy nature and the peace it provided while living a hectic city life.
Volunteer flowers have popped up around the pots grabbing for the water provided by the pot irrigation runoff.
This creates a woodland retreat – all that is needed is a comfy chair.
How you look upon volunteer plants is up to you. They can be a treasure or a gift from nature – such as a volunteer watermelon that springs up from the seed of an unharvested fruit of the previous season.
Once I had a volunteer snapdragon sprout in my hanging, succulent wreath. What a surprise! It stayed small due to the limited root space and low light. But there it was!
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