Coming to Flower

I once had a discussion with a friend and fellow gardener about finding "volunteers" in the garden. She said she never had volunteers, but it was probably because she was a compulsive weeder. As soon as something sprouted that she didn't plant, out it went.

I tend to weed slowly. I like to make sure I can identify the plant before I pull it up. You can't always tell what you are growing when it's a seedling. I have had unusual flowering plants appear in my yard simply because I waited to see what would happen. A year or two ago, a droopy petaled flower appeared in our yard because I decided not to weed it. It turned out to be a woodland flower called white avens.

White Avens, geum canadense

There is a saying that a weed is a flower in the wrong place. But it can also be in the right place and we just don't recognize it yet. Watching something grow without knowing what it will become takes patience and acceptance. Sometimes you have to let things be and see what develops. What we consider annoyances today can surprise us when they come to full flower.