What suprising or unexpected delights do you have in your garden this year?

[taffetacat]

After 3 years with no success, I have finally managed to grow a cephalaria gigantea from seed. It popped up from nowhere a few weeks ago, and my heart lifted. It looks big and healthy, as opposed to the sick, yellowy, spotty things I have managed in the past.

We also moved a Geum Rivale from the front garden where it had been for over 10 years,when we had a big renovation last year, to the back, where its a lot hotter and drier. Its doing really well, has beautiful tiny nodding red flowers.

Sone self seeded violas (ironic as I have been nursing some in the greenhouse and the self seeded ones are in far better shape)

An ancient yukka that we had given up for dead has resprouted - it came from DHs grandmothers garden

Clematis - it did nothing last year, but this year it is glorious

Plum tree - lots of timy plums forming - we have been here for 2 summers and haven't had any before. The first year a frost killed the lot and last year we had a horrendous aphid infestation that wiped them all out.

DH building me some fab raised beds - and double digging them as well

OP: that my DH has finally taken an interest in doing some.....

Sadly the slugs have eaten my beans while I was away. Rather surprised to find a healthy plantation of sunflowers growing in their place.

Tiggy

How interesting kitten - have you had sunflowers in the vicinity before dropping their seeds perhaps?

My "cephalaria" is indeed a surprise as I don't think thats what it is after all. Can't post pic as hopeless at all that, but it very tall and has foliage exactly like a giant scabious but the heads now appear to be turning pink/red. I'm sure its not a knautia as I've tried growing before here and they die as they don't like my extreme soil. Think it might be. How exciting.

The plums tree with hundreds on last year is bare & they one that didn't fruit last year is covered in fruit

The apricot is covered in fruit too (I have about 20 last year) but the peach leaves are all shrivelled and brown again

I am hopeless with fruit trees. Give me a fruit bush anyday. Our peach tree is so crap DH pulled it up in a fit of pique an hour ago.

taffeta - I grew sunflowers by the compost heap. oops!

kitten - what a sunflowery garden you will have this year!

I will! It shall be like Provence

We purchased a Fritillaria imperialis the year before my son was born and it flowered that year. And not again (he is 12), until this year. Despite surviving 2 house moves it just sat in a border, and has this year flowered in all it's magnificence.

I am thrilled.

Not a surprise, but aren't Clematis extraordinary this year?

Mittz - how lovely! Maybe it likes a cold winter?

I have discovered 2 quinces in the garden that I didn't realise were there.

A peony has also appeared

Will you make jam?

Actually I know a haiku about peonies

Our two peonies are so gracious,
See they flower, one now, one later

(I think?)

I am intrigued by the idea of surprises in the garden. We have a very large garden (moved in two months ago) which was just landscaped. I have planted some things (mostly fruit and veg) as there was nothing here at all. How does a surprise happen? Do I have this to look forward to? Or does this only happen to people with acre sized gardens?

Flax flowers - lovely blue have suddenly appeared. I suppose from winter bird seed.

Things you didn't plant are technically called weeds but if they are pretty leave them or transplant somewhere more visible

our fritillaria meleagris (sp? snakes head fritillaria) has suddenly had babies and we had 6 flowers instead of the usual 1. I think it must had seeded previously, online advice suggests they can take a long time to 'take'. There are several big fat seed heads now that I long to DO something with but I think it's futile.

We are always finding things in the garden that the birds have left behind. Our privet hedge is full of native species trying to take over - yew, hawthorn, beech. If we could only agree with out neighbour to selective lop the privet we could have a gorgeous native hedge in our suburban garden - but no privacy for a few years!

Maybe so Taffetacat, I hadn't thought of that.
I think the Snakeshead Fritilary is just about one of the most exquisite flowers ever.

We have Orchids naturalised in our Hosta pots.. Some of them have been in their post for years and the conditons must just be right for them. I live very close to a Meadow that has SSSI status which is predominantly known for it's orchids.

at the sunflowers Kitten.. maybe a nearby birdfeeder?

Not a flower but one of my favourite things at this time of year is hearing the wasps scratching away at the surface of our bird table for their nests. We have a couple of burrowing wasp nests .

I have fallen in love with a plant on someone else's rockery , it sort of looks a little like an orchid with the pyramid shape but is a very pale icy blue.

IlanaK, as far as my experience goes, it is a combination of things lying dormant that you think you have lost suddenly springing into action, or things 'migrating' from nearby gardens. Like Bamboo...(grr), also birds dropping seeds can be a source, I had two Gold Tits raiding our basketball net for nest material, it was like Christmas!

I have a lovely crop of weeds, beautifully interspersed with cat shit

akhems... you'll be channelling James Wong this year then? (apart from the cat shit!)

katy

I would like to make jam - we have once quince already that I was aware of but the dog ate every fruit from it last year so we'll see what happens this year!

ilana - our surprises are because we only moved in last year. It's quite interesting seeing what appears over the seasons.

Plus, birds drop seeds. We have a massive elderberry problem round here.

Oh it is Laurels that are the bane of my gardening life pfft... leaves like canoes,, and seedlings that I am sure sprout all year round. And snowberry....

Pfft - its hard to think of two more wonderful discoveries - lucky you. Just the smell of quinces in the warm sun makes me glow.

Ilana - When you say your new garden was landscaped and there is nothing there - was a totally blank canvas? That holds its own excitement in planning from scratch, what fun. In terms of what are surprises, as mittz mentions and also me planting stuff and completely forgetting about it. We had a big refurb done last year and moved out, only visiting every few weeks. Yesterday I noticed a clutch of gladioli communis ssp. byzantium that I must have out in two years ago and assumed they hadn't taken ( we have appalling soil ). They are fabulous. I am vair absent minded.

barbarian - I adore flax - its one of the things that grow brilliantly here - I sow more and more each year, love the flowers and the foliage.

laurels - ack!

We have a shitload of spanish bluebells that I am desperately trying to get rid of. They appeared from hell nowhere this year, joy.

I am very pleased with the peonies - I had ordered one before i realised they were there.