Yes! We have a volunteer

A bit more than two years ago, I wrote in this space about a pansy, one we had not planted but which sprung up on its own. In fact, I made that essay one I pointed to in my email signature ever since.

If you are interested, feel free to visit that post. You will see why it is that I am so thrilled that, only yesterday, my wife discovered just under the protective branches of the big evergreen in our backyard another pansy volunteer.

This year, circumstances prevented us from putting out the half

dozen or more pots of pansies which we normally display in our yard from April through the beginning of the summer heat when the flowers give up and expire. Of course, this only made the volunteer that much more surprising to find.

The celebrated volunteer from two seasons ago was right up against the edge of the concrete patio, a spot which was very hot in the afternoon as it baked under the unrelenting Colorado sun. It survived, though, for weeks after its tame cousins in pots had gone.

The one we just found is also vulnerable to the sun, but not nearly to the extent the earlier one was. In fact, it would not surprise me if this volunteer makes it to August. It is partly sheltered by the lowest branches of the tree which it found itself under when it poked its head up.

All in all, it has a better situation than did the pansy two years ago. That doesn't change the lesson one bit. It's still, "Start where you are."