While clearing out the 2024 growing season’s soil from my pots that had wintered outside, I noticed a pair of emerging leaves that resembled petunias. I had previously grown petunias indoors from seed, so the shape was familiar. Since I didn’t need the pots until mid-May, I decided to leave the seedlings alone and see what happened.

By mid-May, the tiny, unidentified sprouts had indeed developed into a petunia plant. That was the start of a long, complicated story.