As is often the case, the best plant combinations in the garden are complete accidents. Japanese Painted ferns pop up in the best places, and today, the most notable accident is the multitude of seedlings of Verbena bonariensis (below) that stand tall and purple in front of the bright yellow ‘Golden Falls’ redbud. The verbena seedlings cover every inch of open soil, and many are weeded out or trampled as I get around the garden. Who cares? There are hundreds, but the tall, narrow perennials are see throughs, so while they add color they don’t block a thing.

As I’ve enjoyed this scene, in autumn last year I spread seeds to an area of the rear garden where they’re getting a slower start in more shade. There is a limit. I don’t care to have the verbena everywhere, but it seems to spread only a far as the seeds can drop, or as far as I spread them. Other seedlings can appear far from the parent plant.

Coneflowers spread a bit more, but more often I am plucking and distributing the seed heads that are not left for the birds. Seedlings of the original ‘White Swan’ (Echinacea purpurea ‘White Swan’, above and below) frequently revert to the more common purple flower, so there is a mix of the two that I am quite happy with.

Seedlings of the native Joe Pye weed (Eutrochium purpureum, one Eupatorium, below) pop up regularly in the damp, lower rear garden, sometimes in the middle of another shrub where they must be weeded out. I leave as many as possible, though they grow quite, since the swallowtails love their late summer flowers.

I was surprised a few years ago when a Japanese iris (Iris ensata, below) popped up just below our kitchen window. Even when it’s not flowering the upright leaves stand above the surrounding foliage. The nearest irises are halfway down the rear garden, so I have no clue how this one got its start, but I’m happy to have it. I could do without the many thousands of maple seedlings that sprout in the garden from swamp maples that border the garden, but many seedlings are welcome.