WQ#41: Surprise in the Garden

Published on by Yinglan

Life is full of surprises. Make the most out of it and always expect the unexpected.

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I honestly did not expect the cosmos to bloom in the garden this year. The last time I grew cosmos successfully was in 2021. I planted cosmos in 2022 but it got whipped by the wind so bad that it was ripped out from the roots. I guess Mother Nature didn’t want me to enjoy the beauty of cosmos in the garden.

I love cosmos. I love how pretty and dainty they are and the way they sway in the breeze. I took this picture near Mt. Fuji. I was thoroughly surprised to see their abundance in Japan. This was in a display garden and I could tell these were mostly volunteer plants, judging by the distance between each plant. Volunteer plants are plants that sprouted from seeds that were dropped onto the ground in the previous year, whether by the previous plant, birds, or wind, either way, it volunteered by germinating and growing.

I love volunteer plants. They are so resilient and careless. They are some of the lowest maintenance required plants in my garden. Just look at these bachelor’s buttons, I planted one plant last year, and somehow, the seed got dropped and this year, 4 plants voluntarily sprouted. I hardly watered them and yet, they bloomed.

It was definitely not easy growing cosmos this year. I scattered the rest of the bag of seeds bought in 2021 and nothing grew. The variety I grew in 2021 was the same variety in the Mt. Fuji photo. I ended up shopping for some brand new cosmos seeds early this year and found this variety, which is called sea shells.

After scattering quite a few seeds, only one seed germinated but I’m still glad. Now, with about 2-3 weeks from first frost (depending on nature), I just hope there’s enough time for at least some of the flowers to run its course and drop its seeds for next year.

13 thoughts on “WQ#41: Surprise in the Garden”

  2. Where I was born cosmos grew wild beside the roads out of town and they grew abundantly, but I haven’t seen them in the cape although we have other wild flowers which remind me of daisies but I don’t know what they are called. People drive 1000km to come and see these flowers every year. We could never get cosmos to grow in our gardens. I think the soil was too polluted in my home town at the time. My granny and aunt could plant sticks and a tree would grow, but no success with cosmos. So, well done! Your pictures are lively as usual. Have a good weekend.

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    Reply

      1. Yes. It was regarded as a bit of a weed, even though it is so beautiful. We also used to see a ground cover that had pink and blue flowers that when picked kept their colour and dried very well. Artistic types used to make pictures with them. But cities grew fast and now one doesn’t see them anymore. It’s all concrete and lawn grass instead. When I was a child we had abundant elephant grass as my granny called it. My nanny made me knitting needles from the stems so I learned to knit with grass for needles. We don’t see it at all anymore. Maybe in the Kruger Park where the elephants still roam and the lions roar.

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      1. Thanks. We thought she was darling. There were plenty of other cats to play with, but there she was entertaining herself. She’s still the same with her little toys.

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