Volunteer plants need loving home

I love to walk around the garden and discover a new "volunteer" plant peeking up at me.  Just imagine!  A new plant that doesn't require driving to the nursery, purchasing, and deciding where to dig a hole.  A volunteer plant is a ready-made treasure.

In my gardener's imagination, volunteer plants want to live in my garden because they find welcoming conditions- soil, light, and water.  They decide for themselves where they want to grow up.  Several times in my life, I tried to outsmart Mother Nature by transplanting volunteers to a location I thought would please me more.  Few plants survived the move. Recently I developed a live-and-let live philosophy and just appreciate the new additions to the flower beds and yards, wherever that may be.

Here are some of the volunteer plants that we have adopted as our own.

Creosote Bush

A familiar desert plant that grows in abundance in the wild is the Creosote Bush or Greasewood. The aroma of wet greasewood plants perfumes the desert after our infrequent rains.  It is a clean aroma, similar to that of witch hazel.  We have tried unsuccessfully to transplant this bush from the wild into our desert landscape with no luck.  This year, however, Mother Nature decided it was the year of the greasewoods and provided us with at least twenty plants of various sizes, all free of charge.  I am anxious to see if the plants survive the sometimes adverse conditions of a high desert winter.

Desert Marigolds

These beautiful yellow flowers are the product of a volunteer plant whose seed jumped over a high garden wall where I had previously planted a purchased desert marigold.  I had been cautioned not to overwater this plant. Unfortunately, the volunteer plant decided to homestead in a bed that is on a watering system.  I think it likes its home anyway.

Desert Fan Palm

This Desert Fan Palm, a volunteer from several years ago, has admittedly gotten out of hand.  It decided to sprout in a very small flower bed around the perimeter of the swimming pool.  I love the tropical look it provides, but wow, is it getting huge!

Candelilla plants

My husband Wayne took this wonderful picture of a bed where small volunteer candelilla plants are growing.  From the angle he took the picture, the plants appear to be large, but they are in reality tiny. And will probably stay that way for a while.  Candelillas are notoriously slow growing.

Peach tree

My favorite volunteer plant may be the peach tree in front of our sun room. Since we have no peach trees on the property, the tree must have grown from a peach pit.  We often wander around the garden in the summertime, munching on fruit, so I can imagine a pit landing in the flowerbed. Last winter, the tree was tiny, and I covered it with a can for protection.  This year, the tree has come into its own. The only problem is its location right in front of a picture window.  Ah well, I'm not looking a gift horse in the mouth.

Fire Bush

The volunteer Fire Bushes may be getting out of hand because I find new ones in the back yard frequently.  But they provide a splash of red color, so I nourish each one that I find.

Wild Lantana

One of the biggest surprises has been the growth of two very large Wild Lantana plants in our yards. Their mother plant has survived on her own for years in a neglected part of the property we call the "back forty."  Now she has spread her seed to produce two grown daughters who receive much more attention than their mama ever did.

Gardening encourages homespun philosophy.  I think what volunteer plants encourage us to do is let go of the notion that we can control the world and instead appreciate what the world has to offer, even if it is not perfect. 

I can't resist welcoming volunteer plants into our garden.