Apparently I am drawn to plants that are dramatic, resilient, and a little misunderstood.
- Cleome (pictured above) explodes into fireworks, throws seed everywhere, and surprises you years later.
- Passionflower looks almost alien, feeds Gulf fritillary butterflies, and then rewards you with maypops.
- Datura has enormous moonlit flowers with a complicated reputation.
- Castor bean has tropical foliage and stunning seed pods, even though it’s one of the most toxic garden plants.
- Obedient plant, which politely stays where you bend it.
- Hummingbird sage, because the pollinators take turns visiting it.
I think I just like plants that have personality … poisonous, invasive, or just wildly misunderstood.
I am super proud of my meadow garden project. Last summer, she was a neglected field of overgrown weeds and dog fennel. This spring and summer I planted a variety of things… some with more precision than others. I love walking the mowed paths I created and seeing what is popping up.
My meadow garden changes almost daily… in colors, visitors, and surprises. One day it’s hummingbirds. The next it’s dragonflies taking over the evening shift while the bees call it a day.
I planted a wall of sunflowers and ended up with a mixture of sunflowers, corn, and millet. I scattered zinnia seeds with absolutely no plan and now I’m discovering little patches blooming in places I had forgotten about. Volunteer verbena keeps appearing. My passionflower surprised me with my very first maypop. And I’m still checking on my obedient plants every morning, waiting for those flowers to finally pop.
None of it has unfolded exactly the way I imagined. And honestly, that’s become my favorite part.
The meadow keeps reminding me that nature doesn’t care much about my plans. It has plans of its own. Sometimes the seeds you intentionally plant never appear. Sometimes the volunteers become your favorites. Sometimes you build a garden, and somewhere along the way, the garden quietly builds something in you too.
Every walk through the meadow feels like a treasure hunt now. I never know what I’m going to find.
And I think that’s exactly why I love it.