As I look out on a sea of melting snow and mud, I ponder how I’m going to reseed the now-missing front lawn. That’s something I really didn’t want to tackle, especially since I have to go out of town in April. Don will have to be in charge of watering and that doesn’t inspire me with confidence!

Thank goodness my garden was undisturbed in all the septic/tree removal mess. I find I am counting the days until I can work in the garden again and lose myself in planting and pruning and mulching. Nothing makes me happier than puttering in my garden.

I waited a long time to have my very own garden. I spent hours dreaming about it. When we rented in San Diego, I put in a garden, knowing that I would eventually have to leave it. Same thing for the cottage we rented for 4 years when we first moved out East. I took a strip of grass bordering the side of the cottage (with my landlord’s permission) and created a garden. When we moved here, I knew that I was finally going to have my own garden, not a temporary garden.

I am a fairly successful gardener who knows that she has much to learn. As all gardeners know, some plants thrive and others inexplicably fail. It’s a trial and error process – learning what your particular soil needs, where the shade is, how much sun a particular area gets.

There’s a lot of clay-like soil in these parts, so I’ve had to amend the soil in my garden beds. And now that the Willow has been removed, the pattern of sun and shade in my front yard will change, no doubt affecting my plants. Oh, but wait…that means I can plant more roses!

What about you? Do you dabble in gardening? Are you a passionate gardener? Or do you leave the gardening and planting to someone else? Is your gardening thumb green or black?

Do tell, my friends. And let’s all count the days until Spring planting season together.

I’m spending the weekend with some crochet and the new Lee Child thriller: The Affair. Just checked it out from my local library – thank goodness for inter-library loans!