It keeps happening: just as I am trying to nurture a new plant, nature laughs in my face and produces a fine specimen in a neglected area. It’s actually quite reassuring – it puts us in our place.

It happened yesterday. We have been trying to grow coriander as many of us love this herb. We succeeded in germinating seeds and our seedlings have slowly grown. I potted on the largest at the weekend, having carefully researched the required growing conditions for coriander: deep pot, rich soil, some shade, not too wet. The three seedlings still look rather weedy. The other seedlings in 8cm pots have stopped growing.

As we weeded the tree pits where we have planted pansies, we came across a thriving coriander seedling, far bigger than the ones carefully cossetted in the greenhouse. It’s hard to see in the photo, but it’s definitely there and wonderfully pungent.

How did it get there? Quite possibly in our compost. All kinds of things have appeared after we’ve mulched with last year’s compost: tomatoes, cucumbers, chard … Or perhaps we emptied old seed trays here when we planted the pansies? Or perhaps seeds blew in when we were planting seeds in April? Who knows? At all events, we marvelled …