Why garden?

Why not?

There are many reasons to garden.  Some people do it for the food they produce and others do it for flowers.  I do it because it is simply who I am.  Poking around in the dirt soil is something I've done since I was old enough to crawl about the backyard.



My Mom, being the ultimate con artist,  had me believing at about age two that pulling weeds was the bestest fun ever.  Guess what?  She was right!  I still love to weed and in Idaho that could be is a full time job.  We have more weeds per square inch than anywhere in the entire country.

One of the best reasons for gardening is what it teaches us about patience.  Put a seed in the ground, water it,  keep it safe from creepy crawlies, and soon you will see a little sprout emerge.  In a few weeks you'll have a little bit of plant and in a few more weeks, or even months, you'll have a vase full of blooms or a luscious plate of fresh tomatoes.  This is the complete antithesis of the 30 second sound bite text messaging world we inhabit.  Something doesn't do well?  Oh well - there's always next year.

Oriental Lilies, Liatris, miniature roses

Anyone can garden.  And I mean anyone!  I cringe whenever someone says, "I have a black thumb."  There is no such thing.  Do you really think that every thing I stick in the ground grows and thrives?  That would be nice if it were true, but the reality is many seeds don't germinate, an occasional bout of blossom end rot strikes, or something weird strikes a tree branch causing it to rot and die. 

With the advent of the internet learning about gardening seemed to become easier but often as not caused more confusion than help.   Have a wart on a branch and don't know what it is?  Pretty hard to find it on the internet unless you have honed your search skills.  A few good books are still the best way to learn to garden.

My all time favorite for disease identification is still the Ortho Home Gardener's Problem Solver.  Once you find your problem you can hop on the web and do more research. 

For your indoor plants the Ortho Guide to Houseplants should do the trick.

And for inspiration you can't beat Tasha Tudor

I may have to start dressing like Tasha when I garden