It came up volunteer

My grandmother used the expression "that just came up volunteer" often, so did my mother, and I do, too.  I don't know if it is really a common expression or if it is just one of those colloquial Mississippi sayings.  But the meaning is obvious, it refers to a plant that just came up.  Usually from seeds dropped the year before or maybe from seeds blown by the wind.  At any rate, it is a freebie and always a wonderful surprise to find something growing that you did not intentionally plant (and it is not a weed!).  

I have several plants that have started to pop up every year this way.  One is a viola plant that started out a few years ago in a pot.  Now it appears each spring in several places, and I always know that it is spring when I see their cheery little blooms.  The violas (or johnny-jump-ups) will last into early June. This year they have appeared in a large pot that has a white-blooming lantana in it. It is an interesting combination. 

Wouldn't it be wonderful if more things just came up volunteer in our lives?  Little surprises that just appear and bring peaceful, gentle moments to us.

Peaceful little violas blooming in the lantana