I would love to be able to take credit for what I know about flowers, vegetable gardening, creating a wildlife habitat and gardening in general, but I cannot. I was blessed with a dear, now elderly, friend in Arizona who taught me the basics of gardening. One day she laughed and said “You remind me of the gardeners I observed while living in Japan!” She explained that one day they would purchase a vacant lot and within a few days, a garden appeared that looked as though it had been there forever. I recall asking “Is that a bad thing?”

Well, I’ve since learned that much of the joy derived from gardening is forming and following a plan, nursing plants back to health, making educated calls on what will or won’t grow in my climate and learning from other gardeners. In essence, patience and faith! There are many types and styles of gardens (and gardeners) but we all start at the beginning and grow in knowledge as our flowers and crops grow. We learn from our mistakes, rejoice over the plants we’ve managed to bring back and grow in confidence with every season. I’ve learned to appreciate the advice and guidance of more experienced gardeners and pass along the bits and pieces I’ve learned to others. As we learn to raise our gardens, we also raise ourselves.