Comments on: Why I Garden

By: Lonnie Miller, Mystical Mansion

Lonnie Miller, Mystical Mansion — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 19:26:45 +0000

Kathy,

That is a very inspirational story, and much about how I feel about gardening! I am sure you are a true inspiration to many! Keep up the good work!

Lonnie

By: Kochsgarden.com

Kochsgarden.com — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 09:23:18 +0000

Gardening is a state of mind! It sets me free from the daily buzz.

By: Crisanna

Crisanna — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 13:54:28 +0000

I only recently found that I could grow something and it would live! My house plants all thrive and I have moved up to bulbs – forcing them to be specific and so – in my spare time – I read what others have to say about their own experiences with growing plants and here – I find this – the most touching article about what could have been a story about my own relationship to this wonderful experience. The line – “the force that through the green fuse drives the flower” springs up inside my soul” – is one that I can relate to as well and wonder too at just how this all happened. Today, I tend to my bulbs that are beautifully displayed in all my forcing vases – the colors are amazing and my next step – how to plant them in the ground and do this all over again! I have truly gone from academic to gardener – I love it!! A+ for the article too!

By: commonweeder

commonweeder — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 17:25:11 +0000

I’m an indoor bookworm (and baker) too. When I am not in the garden or out with family and friends. One of the things I love about gardening, is the wonderful people I have met and friends I have made. I am really jealous of the spring fling 2009 pix. But Buffalo is within my reach! I’ve got another Giveaway over at my blog to give my friends another chance at a book, Right Rose Right Place and more CowPots.
commonweeder´s last blog ..The Landscape and Art

By: VW

VW — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 21:14:44 +0000

When I was younger, I didn’t think I had much of an artistic side. Like you, gardening has been a fulfilling way to draw it out of me. Isn’t it great!
VW´s last blog ..Not Your Typical Poinsettias

By: Cool Garden Things

Cool Garden Things — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 22:23:49 +0000

You know it’s funny, but what you say is so true…I remember I would sit and weed my parents garden for hours as a child…weird now that I think about it…but I enjoyed it even then. They never even asked me to do it! Ha ha!
GartenGrl at Planning Plants to Plant

By: Paul

Paul — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 14:04:41 +0000

In my youth I could not tell the difference between a tree and a shrub. The last thing I wanted to do was “garden”. My how time can change things. I now love to plant, water, fertlize, see things grow, and do my best to find useful information on gardening. I also love to give all the gardening knowledge I have acquired over the years and pass it on to others.

By: Joan Bailey

Joan Bailey — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 10:30:13 +0000

I’d like to think I garden (and attempt to farm) because it’s in my blood. Or because I was raised in a landscape of farms – rolling fields of hay, corn, horses, wheat, and cows – that I carry with me wherever I go. Or because I think of my mother and grandmothers and friends (here and gone) who’ve gardened and farmed before me. I think, too, it’s because I never know what to expect in the garden or what I will find. Yes, the plants are there, but who besides me is eating them? Or what volunteer plant will be cheerfully waving leaves when I next look? (I had a nice volunteer crop of potatoes one year that I will never forget.) I don’t know why I garden and farm, except that when I can’t for some reason it nearly breaks my heart.

By: Neil Moran

Neil Moran — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 13:18:58 +0000

Hi Kathy, your essay called to mind growing up in lower Michigan tending my father’s garden after he planted it but was often too tired after a day’s work in a factory to come home and weed it. I cared for it as if it were a stray puppy dog and I was only maybe 8 or 9 at the time. I went on to grow great tasting vegetables that my mother canned and froze and served fresh with hamburgers on the grill.

Meanwhile, I noticed, but didn’t fully appreciate at the time, the common lilac, barberry, climbing rose, spirea and other plants in our yard. I eventually developed an interest that turned into a passion for all plants, including those found deep in the forests here in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan (I’m talking about spring beauty, cotton grass and pitcher plants). I marvel at the towering trees in the woods: white pine, hemlock and white spruce.

I’ve been fortunate to make my living growing native and nonnative plants in a not-for- profit greenhouse and nursery and donating them to nonprofit agencies. Thanks for a great essay and helping me conjure up some pleasant memories (and trying to answer that elusive question: why do I garden?).

By: Helen Yoest @ Gardening With Confidence

Helen Yoest @ Gardening With Confidence — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 12:54:27 +0000

Happy Thanksgiving Kathy!
Helen Yoest @ Gardening With Confidence´s last blog ..The Book of Six© Six Things to be Thankful For