Strange and unexplainable things always happen in gardens. It’s one of the reasons we keep coming back for more.

Canna lilies shot up like a rocket reaching for the sky

This fall the canna lilies in the courtyard garden reached over eight feet high to the top of the garden house roof. Without staking they were still standing tall in late October.

The rotting wood and moss was all the coleus needed to germinate

A coleus seeded itself in the moss at the base of an ornamental birdhouse. It has been growing there without soil and regular watering for several months. How did it do it?

The nest was hidden by the foliage and flowers of the rose

A bird built a nest in ‘Miederland alba’ rose bush. It was just above the fence and only four feet from the ground. What could the mother bird have been thinking? They were an easy target for our cats and the raccoons.

What was this bird thinking putting its nest in this box?

Another bird built a nest in an open box on the top of the shelves in the garage. I didn’t think I left the garage door open long enough for that to happen.

The bright red leaves are poison ivy

Poison ivy played possum all summer and I didn’t notice how far up the tree it had grown until it’s turned bright red in the fall and grinned at me. It smartly twined with Virginia creeper so it is hard to tell where one vine turns around another.