How do you become "A Gardener"?
The other way is my way. To have no method at all. To begin as a child by playing in the dirt. To plant marigold seeds in paper cups, maybe in kindergarden. Everywhere I have lived, I have either had a little garden or something in pots. There is a NEED to get my fingers and toes in the dirt , to connect with the earth.
My mother at 92 still loves to have pretty flowers in the flower beds. She needs a bit more help these days, but she still can't resist a good greenhouse trip!
My first home 25 plus years ago gave me plenty of room to experiment and learn. I think this is when things began to get out of hand, I lived in the country in a little old farmhouse, I planted and dug and planted more. At the time I pretty much bought what I loved and stuck it in the ground, if it didn't grow, I planted something else. If it was too tall for the front, I moved it to the back, or visa versa. This system has pretty much worked for me, the "hap-hazzard gardener".
Today I share a home with my husband of 12 years that we purchased when we married. The backyard was a clean slate, save for huge redwood trees across the back, the first things I planted were some Hostas and Siberian Iris brought from my past home, I love the connection it gives me to the home where I raised my son. We are now in the "burbs" and I have come to LOVE so many things about our nice college town in Ohio.
BUT . . . when I step outside I become, if just for a bit, that barefooted, overall clad, pigtailed country girl!
And my system? Still pretty hap-hazzard!
Lori Ann
