The other day, Sarah Jones was tending to her garden of wildflowers when she suddenly spotted someone watching her. A green tree frog was sitting on a leaf, inches away from a blooming dahlia. And while it might have startled some to know that they weren’t
alone, Jones was instantly thrilled, hoping to witness a phenomenon she’d only ever seen online before.
“I’ve seen videos where they actually tuck themselves into little individual petals,” Jones said in an Instagram Reel. “Maybe he’ll do that later.”
Jones checked in on the tree frog consistently for the rest of the day, aiming to catch a glimpse of this unique behavior. She’d seen many wild creatures pass through her lush garden, like salamanders, snakes and hummingbirds, but no one delighted her as much as tree frogs.
Jones has always felt a strong connection to tree frogs, since she was a young girl. There were many times when a frog would drop right into her lap while sitting outside on her childhood patio — a trend even her family picked up on.
“My mom would joke that they were my friends because they would always find me,” Jones told The Dodo. “I always get a thrill and can't help smiling when I hear or see them to this day.”
That’s why, when she found the tree frog sitting on a green leaf in her backyard that day, Jones was elated to have even spotted him in the first place. But her excitement only grew when she checked on him a little while later and saw his head poking out from the center of her dahlia flower.
At some point, the frog hopped from the leaf he’d been resting on to one of the dahlia’s many cavernous petals. He then tucked his back end into the petal until only his head was visible, securing a safe and dry spot to spend the rest of the afternoon.
Jones couldn’t believe her eyes when she realized what had happened.
“[T]o see them tucked into the flower petal after I had hoped out loud that they would was an incredibly magical moment,” Jones said.
You can watch Jones’ video from that moment here:
And, to Jones’ surprise, the moment wasn’t fleeting. The tree frog stayed in her garden for another seven days, and she had the best week ever documenting his entire visit.
You can watch that footage here:
For Jones, seeing this tree frog using her dahlia flowers like a little hotel wasn’t just a happy surprise. It was a meaningful visit that affirmed her decision to grow a lush garden of wildflowers — and an opportunity to replace a lost relic that symbolized her love for these little guys many years later.
“I took a photo of a tree frog asleep in an orange daylily in my garden maybe 20 years ago,” Jones said. “I have since lost that photo, so I'm grateful that I've had this recent experience and caught it on video.”
