by Diane, Happy surprises in on our garden

 

Some of my favorite surprises are volunteer sunflowers with their dark round seed pods punctuating the round sunburst dahlias.

 

 

The bucks with big racks peeled off the bark all but girdling our dogwood tree last year.
Amazingly the tree still blossomed and leafed out this year. Many branches died and now the tree has fruit, I have never noticed before.

 

A rock with a split crack cutting it all the way across the middle is a surprise planter. For several years snapdragon seeds grew in the crack. This year cosmos!

 

Love the way tiny snap dragon seeds find the most unlikely niche to sprout and flourish.
Love the way the holly tree is healing after last year the sap suckers pecked the trunk all around in long rows of holes. This year I allowed the sucker branches to protect the trunk while scar tissues closed the wounds. To my surprise the brave holly bush is making a come back.

Love the way life strives to survive even against the odds!