I have two snapdragons blooming happily in the tight crack between my cement sidewalk and the cement curb. Earlier this year there was a California poppy blooming just down a ways but it got stepped on too many times and I finally pulled it.

I also currently have dandylions blooming right through the asphalt driveway. ;(

There is a house over in Aberdeen, by Safeway, that last year had cosmos blooming in the thick moss on their porch roof. The other weeds rooted in that moss were around three feet high!

There is a house not far from me that is in pretty sad shape. It has a For Sale sign on it, and has had for several years. My kids & I call it The Mossy Cottage. It has so much moss, and so thick, that it obscures the shape of the roof. It actually looks like the entire roof is made of moss.
;)
GH-

Corydalis lutea is blooming out of our front steps where the cement and brick trim meet. Also what looks to be Malva sylvestris 'Zebrina' in the middle of the path in the back garden (Have never had this plant in my garden before!). And last, the tall, stick-like verbena bonariensis in a shallow pot of hens and chicks, looking odd to say the least, but I'm a big fan of odd things!

Patti

I just returned from a weekend trip to my daughters and brought a silly little package back for the garden. She had in her garage, growing in NO dirt, in a plastic grocery bags about a half dozen cannas that she neglected to plant in the spring. They are pretty pale green (no windows in that garage at all) and have some brown leaves on them and look sad, but they are growing.. :) I have no hope for any decent flowers out of them, but maybe if I get them in the ground they may survive to save for next spring. Going to try at least..never throw away something green...:)

I always look forward to the little self seeded surprises. I have a columbine in my driveway and we actually drive around it. I always have impatients and coleus growing in the brick patio under the hanging baskets. Sunflowers are likely to show up anywhere due to the birds/squirrels taking seed from the feeders. I get amazed at the tenacity of some plants and the conditions they will grow under but at the same time so frustrated because I kill them with kindness in the garden - lol.....

Lynne

last year's calendula reseeded and one is coming up through a crack in the paved parking area. Missed the dirt by less than six inches.

Cosmos growing on the roof, what a sight to behold, tops my compost potatos.

Edna

LOL! We had tomatos pop up out of our compost bin...they were good, too! We've got little purple violas growing in the dirt inbetween our flagstone pavers and the lawn....I had a pot of them growing about 15 feet away on the steps. I guess the wind blew the seeds over, but that doesn't explain the orange violas growing up and over some sandbags holding up a dirt pile in our in the middle of being renovated back yard. Also found a little patch of iceplant, variety unknown, on the side of another paver.

Two pumpkin vines, and in separate gardens, no less! Haven't grown them for years, but something must have hit the compost pile at some point.

We've already harvested two ripe pumpkins, but w/ this heat, I don't know if the vines will last until Fall.

I don't suppose anyone has a good recipe for a pumpkin pie made totally from scratch ... ;)

I have a purple wave petunia growing from a crack in the asphalt. It's real pretty.

I have tomatoes, cosmos and nierembergia growing out of the sides of my compost bin and violas out the back of it. It's its own mini garden. Then I have snaps in the spaces between the rocks that line the borders around the potager, and ceratostigma taking over one of the raised potager beds. Its pretty blue flowers look so nice next to the yellow chilies, I think I may leave some of it. But since it makes such a nice ground cover, I'm going to move most of it to other areas.

Edna, those potatoes should be fine to eat unless they have started turning green. And I bet they'll taste better than any you've bought at the grocery store, sitting under bright lights and getting old before their time. : )

Diana

I have huge tomatillos growing in my driveway cracks!
They must have blown in from the neighbors. I didn't even know what they were....never seen them before!

Haziemoon

Ilsa, here is a link for fresh pumpkin pie. It is so good, you will never use canned again.

Here is a link that might be useful: recipe fresh pumpkin

natvtxn - Thanks for the pie recipe!!

I had a canna that started growing between the sidewalk and the grass last year. I brought it in for the winter and it is now blooming. I have never had this kind of canna. I live in the country so its unlikely that it came from a neighbor. I have also had pumpkin and cantelope vines grow in beds. I'm sure those were from the compost. Its always fun to see things pop up.

THE MOSSY COTTAGE

Hey, it could be fixed up!
The phone number's right there.
Tell them I insist on a commission.
(sorry, pic wasn't THAT big in my photo account....)
GH-

Whoa! That's amazing! I knew you folks got a lot of rain but moss on the roofs? Can you imagine how much mold must be inside?

Still, with a new slate tile roof, a good paint job (a butter yellow and white trim), and some different porch posts and rails, it could be nice. Add some shrub roses, delphs and cosmos and it would be downright cute. Go for it, GH! : )

Diana