Went out and puttered in the garden today (dang, it was nice here: low 70s, no humidity, not a cloud in the skay). Mostly it was weeding, and I was delighted to find that the foxgloves I had … last year? no, I think it was the year before … self-seeded. I like foxgloves, but they don’t always reseed for me.
Not quite as exciting as finding out – when I’d been in the house several years – that I had a lilac bush under all the brush in the back corner (and I have a very small yard), but pretty darn cool.
My SO bought the house two years before I moved in. We were dating, but I lived in a condo. I started a small flower garden out front, but didn’t investigate the backyard very much. I was aware of a concrete pond (which the previous owners had filled with large rocks), but didn’t do much with it until the rocks were removed. We took out the rocks and when we went to trim the large junipers covering the slope above the pond, we discovered a concrete waterfall chute. We removed the overgrown junipers and bought a pump and hose and hooked it up. It is very cool. We landscaped around it and added lighting, there are little planting pockets formed out of concrete all around it. He lived here two years before we found that.
There were also large junipers in the corner in front of the house, and when we dug those out we found another large planting area, built out of limestone pavers, and terraced. Those junipers sure covered a lot of stuff.
Well, it wasn’t so much gardening as doing chores in the back yard. I found a carnival glass candy dish buried under a couple of inches of dirt. I took it into my mom, she cleaned it up, and now they have a little 30s kitsch.
Dang, Boscibo, that is an extremely cool story!
And **phouka[/b[ – isn’t it fun to imagine how that candy dish came to be buried there? Left out after a wild party, perhaps? Or taken and hidden by a mischievous kid. I’ve come across some plastic soldiers, little cars and stuff, but nothing that cool. (And of course, since the yard backs up on a schoolyard, I regularly find balls, frisbees, etc., despite the ten-foot fence on top of the four-foot wall.)
I found this flower growing in a corner of the yard that I never go into, because of the way the fence was placed. I noticed it while talking to my neighbor. It was a very pleasant surprise. I’ve been keeping an eye out for it this year.
Here, we call those Hurricane Lilies, because they bloom during the peak of hurricane season, often after a torrential downpour sort of rain that a tropical storm or hurricane might bring. They’re also called suprise lilies or spider lilies. They will bloom in late fall, and as I said, generally after a big rain. For your area, watch for the blooms near the end of September-ish.
Gorgeous, aren’t they?
I think those are very interesting plants. I never notice them because the foilage doesn’t really appear until after the bloom is fading. That’s the best time to dig 'em up and divide or move them, if you plan to do such a thing. Then, by mid-spring, the foilage will die back and you won’t even realize they’re there.
I love those things. Wish I could find some at the local nurseries. Typically they seem to be a pass-along plant.
I have several petunias volunteering out in my rose beds, which are a long way away from any other petunias. I have no idea where they came from, but they sure are pretty.
I pretty much live in the yard and know every inch so no native surprises but I did receive a couple of plant samples from my Mom years ago that I’d just thrown into a pot and left around a back corner with no care given. The looked like some kind of iris but they never bloomed and I paid them little attention.
Then this year I redid the primary focal point in the backyard, pulling up all the old and planted Mountain Laurels, a Smoke Tree and some nandina, loriope and calladiums. With a small spot left over, I figured what the hell and put the mystery plant in. It turned out to be the perfect addition. In the full sun and with fertilizer, it’s produced these beautiful orange flowers that perfectly compliment the rest of the bed. Mom visited last week and, when showed the plant, said they came from my departed Grandmom’s yard and were some of her favorites, something I’d not known before. So now I’ve got both an aesthetic and heirloom treasure and am so glad the thing hadn’t croaked from my previous neglect.
I still don’t know exactly what they are but twickster you’ve given me the impetus to find out.
Last year I had lots of volunteer tomatoes, and a volunteer cantelope, which produced fruit, but nothing really worth eating. This year I have to squash that I’ve transplanted to some empty space. They’ve both taken, but I’m not quite sure what they are. I couldn’t find any white French squash this year at the garden store - if these are them from last year I’ll be very happy.
Wow, you guys get all the cool stuff. The people who lived in my house before me loved concrete. I’ve gardened here for four years and I’m still finding the occasional homemade stepping-stone. There are concrete paths under the ivy too. And some odd remains that might have been a barbeque.
My sisters must get the award for the biggest thing found in the yard. They were digging a new veggie garden out back when they discovered an old-fashioned set of mattress springs buried about six inches down. My Dad said folks used to bury stuff like that rather have it lying around being an eyesore or having to haul it away.
