Ragged Robins

Lychnis flos-cuculi. Yeah, that's a mouthful, even for me who can say "Myriosclerotinia caricis-ampullaceae" without batting an eye. Let's call these little pretties by their common name, Ragged Robins. They came to me as seeds. I planted them in a big flower pot late one autumn and promptly forgot all about them. The following spring, when the sprouts came up, I took a look at them and said, "Huh, some new kind of weed," and pulled 99% of them up by their roots! A few weeks later, it registered: "Oh, dammit! Those were my Ragged Robins!" Fortunately, the 1% which had escaped my fury grew, flowered, matured, and self-sowed themselves nicely. They're still mostly confined to the pot, although a few are coming up at the base of it where seed has spilled over. They do have to be kept in check so they don't take over the world.