Brandon Flowers Son's Name

I've discovered through my own growth with plants, as well as watching my children and others, that gardeners aren't born. They are grown just like everything they produce. Somewhere along the line a seed was planted and it either takes root or it doesn't. If it does, a gardener is grown. From there whether a gardener thrives or wilts depends truly on them.

There are also as many types of gardeners as there are species of plants. One gardener can be happy with a couple pots of flowers, and ornament or two and a glass of wine to help enjoy the view. Some are tillers and diggers and builders- conquering the landscape and sculpting it to their will. Others are repeaters, they have a plan that works and they follow it season after season. They are content with consistency and proven success. Others, like me are ADD gardeners, every year means dragging something to a new spot, boredom with the usual and same things that were placed last year, means long hours and lot of redo the next season. I can't seem to help it. It just overtakes me around February and March and I look out the window at something in the yard and suddenly think....WELL THAT'S NOT RIGHT. That can't possibly go there and then the activity begins. Moving, changing, adjusting...it can be mind numbing until that moment when suddenly you find the right spot...and then YES!! THAT'S IT!!! PERFECT!!! Well, at least until next February.

It's important to determine what kind of gardener you are. What are your expectations? What do you want?

I've discovered in 30 years of growing as a gardener, what I need, what I want and what I can reasonably have. This was not out of any special deep self-realization mind you. It was out of necessity.

My husband's career requires us to move a lot. Because of this, I have had to adjust my love of gardening with the resolution that I only have a limited time in one space and I have to accept that what I create will be there for someone else to enjoy. I can't plant a tree in honor of a new child and watch it spread and grow with them. My trees will be enjoyed by others' children.

So, I began my growth as a gardener watching my parents in their yard in a suburb in CA during the 6os and 70s. They were tree, shrub and flower people. Each season we followed the rituals of digging, fertilizing, planting and mulching, watering, mowing...the usual. Pots, including some macrame hangers so popular at the time, dotted the yard in a corner here and there and it was very pretty. Very controlled.

When I got my first apartment in Alexandria, VA, I started my own adventures with pots. I build shelves on my balcony and started with bulbs and simple potted colorful flowers. The squirrels loved the bulb pots and usually dug into them to hide seeds and nuts from the trees around us.

Because of our fun with relocation moves I have had to learn to garden in almost every possible climate and living condition. The mojave desert where I learned out of absolute necessity the importance of planting native species just to survive the water bills! Rental properties мейд planting in containers a necessity, since most landlords frown on your tearing out shrubs and replacing them with your own selection. We lived overseas where the cultural connections to plants took on a whole new meaning. Owning a house on one acre in North Carolina meant I could finally build a large raised bed garden with more vegetables and herbs than I had ever grown before. A mini family farm.

Somewhere along the way, my фокус turned to herbs, food gardening and wildlife gardening and that's where I have stayed.

[growing-gardener.blogspot/]