Volunteers!

Volunteer seedlings fill in the bare spots, and add a little cheerful chaos to any garden.

CA poppies: the largest overwintered, 
the rest are less than two months old.

I haven't made the commitment to grow native annuals from seed.  I did dump a few packets on the ground.  Why not, they're cheap?  I wait and see what pops up.  I also hope that the annuals I paid for in years past have spread their seed.

Could be Clarkia.

Now that the ground has been damp a while, all kinds of sprouts have sprouted.  Some of them are weeds.  Most of the volunteers are California Poppies (Eschscholzia californica), in fact those have grown beyond the sprout size.  Also California Fuchsias (Zauschneria, or more recently Epilobum– which is not related to garden fucshia) all over the place.   That's strange, because the stunning plant which probably seeded them is, alas, long expired. Fuchsias do seem to be better at sprouting than enduring long years.  

Successfully transplanted daisy volunteer.  
Want one?

My most prolific volunteer is Mexican Fleabane a.k.a. Santa Barbara Daisy (Erigeron karvinskianus– a variety from Tomaz that has lush green foliage and weathers drought), not the showiest plant but I love it.  It is one of those rare troopers that blooms and looks lush in dryish shade.  It transplants well, a rarity among natives. Not to worry; it is easy to weed.

Blue-eyed grass, second year volunteer.  
Bloom already!

Blue Eyed Grass (Sisyrinchium bellum) seeds well, but it doesn't bloom the first year.  I think I see a few Blackfoot Daisies (Melampodium leucanthum– a nearly native from Arizona).  And a Red Buckwheat!  (Eriogonum grande rubescens). And lots of other mystery sprouts, which may be annuals or may be weeds.  Time will tell.

Fuchsia by the dryer vent. 

Volunteers don't always pop up in sensible spots.  The crack between the garden and the cement walk is quite the incubator, but not a prime location for a mature plant.  The daisy transplants easily; most of the others not so much.  Easy come, easy go.  

To encourage volunteers, I don't deadhead, or remove spent annuals, very promptly. Call me a neglectful gardener, but this is a wildlife-friendly way to garden, and we want our gardens to be wildlife friendly, right? Where do you think bird seed comes from? Watch a flock of migrating birds descend on your "dead" daisies and you'll be glad your garden is not perfectly groomed. 

The champion volunteers in my garden are not native.  About seventeen years ago I planted a pack of mixed-color sweet peas.  They have come back every year, by the hundreds, but have all turned an ethereal purple.   I prop them up on three or four tomato cages. I pick scores of bouquets and supply all my friends.  They shrivel up in the first summer heat and I wait for next year's volunteers.

Sweet pea invasion, partial view. 
Note tomato cage for scale.  (From last spring)

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