Survival of the fittest

I picked what turned out to be the absolute worst spot in the garden to plant my foxglove.  What I didn't know when I tilled and planted the flower patch, was that, not only did I inadvertently choose the lowest spot in the garden where all the water pools up but the slats from the porch above us creates waterfalls that pummel the ground in neat little lines when it rains.

During the first big rain after planting, I was fully convinced I had lost all of my foxglove seeds to drowning but, towards the beginning of last week, I started seeing little flower sprouts all over the patch! I was so excited to see that most of my seeds had survived!


Two days ago, my whole garden had its Moment of Truth in the first hard rain I allowed all my newly transplanted and sprouted plants to endure without being sheltered by home-made cloisters or tarps.  Most of my plants did fine in this test of their hardiness, with the exception of a tomato planter that got drowned out because I hadn't realized it was placed right underneath the gutter (I have since moved it and am planning on re-planting this week).  The most interesting results of this Moment of Truth, though, were in the foxglove patch:

My flower patch after the rain.
(Those tiny little dots of green you see are the foxglove seedlings.)

As the rain came pouring down, I watched my poor foxglove sprouts quickly become covered in a pool of muddy water. I saw the waterfalls come pouring through the porch above to make deep gouges in the soil. I thought, "There's no way those little seedlings are rooted enough to make it through this."

The next morning, I walked the garden to check the damage and found a mightily torn up foxglove patch with rain-made tunnels scarring its face. So many seedlings had washed out, my first reaction was a frown...until I looked closer and saw that there were survivors, even in the rain ditches! In fact, the rain seemed to have thinned them out for me, leaving just enough space for each surviving plant to grow without being crowded by its siblings! I thought about how much we gardeners bypass the process of natural selection by protecting, thinning, deadheading, and otherwise manhandling our plants. To a certain extent, especially with food plants, this is a necessary process that provides us with higher yields and bushier plants. On the other hand, scattering seeds on some tilled soil and watching nature do its work is a fearfully exciting process. It's a war out there - Survival of the Fittest. Will the rain or the foxglove win? I don't know, but I can't wait to find out!