I love the term plant “volunteers”. It refers to plants that were not intentionally grown in place by a gardener but grew by chance, from seeds in bird droppings or carried by the wind. The word choice makes it sound as if brave young seedlings are saying, “pick me to go an colonize that space!” The reality is, given the right conditions, plants reproduce. Living in Raleigh, also known to locals as the City of Oaks, our yard is never…

Here’s a quick walk-through of the garden, pictures of veggies and flowers growing strong. We still aren’t seeing many monarch butterflies around here. I’m hoping having several varieties of milkweed will attract them. There are usually a lot of swallowtails, but I haven’t seen those yet either. There are plenty of bees!