Naturally, bindweed, poison ivy, dandelions, goutweeds, onion grass and many other prolific weeds are easily recognized while walking at a fast clip through the garden and I pull them as soon I spot them. However, mixed in among the weeds are often many desirable plants. Some sprouted from a seed dropped by a bird, carried in with the mulch, floated on a breeze and parachuted down, or unknowingly smuggled in on the hair of our dog. Learning to identify seedling is a wonderful way to accept nature’s gifts.

Often, if I don’t recognize a seedling, I don’t pull it. It’s a gamble to let it grow; yet I often get lucky. (It’s my idea of living dangerously.) Of course, I first check to see if the mystery seedling is part of a group found in only one part of the garden. If it is, the probability is high that the mother plant is nearby. Morning glories are one example of a plant that drops its seeds at its feet. They would, if they could, take over the earth. Besides their glorious good looks, I grow them so curious children can pinch their puffed buds and hear them pop. Each flower blooms for only a day before it literally goes to seed. ‘Heavenly Blue’, a hybrid, drops hundreds of seeds over the course of its 3- to 4-month bloom by my estimation. But the seedling don’t look like their ma. Their small purple flowers are not much to look at. Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t wipe out the entire population with one swipe because the seeds don’t germinate all at once. They keep coming all summer and fall with even more showing up the following spring. Some always escape my hoe and bloom. Because I am so fond of the mother I tolerate the kids. You know how it goes.

In a garden, new seedling appear daily. Some are showy: The red leaves of amaranth give it away. Some are gawky: A tulip tree seedling has tulip-shaped leaves too big for its britches. Some are ferny: Nigella, a miniature of its mother, is all a flutter in a light breeze. And some are instantly identifiable: Lupine, for example, has its foliage arranged in tight whorls.  Once I learned to recognize my favorites, I let them be or scoop them up and move them to a better spot. Extras are always welcome to neighbors and Friends. Here are a few of my favorite pictured below:

morning glory seedlings

The troubling bindweed.

lungwort (Pulmoniaria)

Hellebore

wood geranium

The prolific weed, marsh marigold.

a sweetpea seedling

The biannual clary sage's seedling.

An annual poppy seedling

A lupine seedling

a nasturtum