Ed's Head Gets Old & Wrinkly

Caution: Gardening Slows Time.

Do you have gardening project-remnants lingering in your garage and yard like I do? Projects that you know you will get back to some day? Could these projects wither & die at the next change-of-direction during idle gardening time? How do you know? Does it matter? Are you listening? Am I? Only Time will tell....

Young gardeners beginning their explorations of plant growing lack a key element in their bag of gardening tools: an understanding of Time. Well, I can shed some light on the Quest of an Aging Gardener....though, as far as I’m concerned these days, 48 isn’t that old! However.....

Approaches to my gardening habit have not only been age-related, but also related to my experience.
Horticulture is so much a part of my life that I measure time in crop and flower cycles.

If you share this, then you understand my dilemma & my focus.

The more I work at a project, the better I get (at least I hope so). Another aspect creeps in: anticipation and expectation. The time-lag between results is often so long that I look for new ways to feed my need to grow things. I easily act on impulse & start a new growing project to feed my obsession: houseplants, African Violets, annuals, perennials, vegetables, fruit trees....it never ends! Each gardening project is more accumulated responsibility.

For instance...
I grew Fuchsias for many years in the 80’s because I think they have one of the finest flowers.
Suddenly (years later...), I had dozens of Fuchsia varieties and a growing lack-of-interest. More years passed; I maintained my collection; I gave away a few here and there, but I never really committed to an ending of my Fuchsia-growing journey. I was saved from my overindulgence by a Big Freeze in 1990 & despite all my efforts, my fuchsia collection was killed. I was heartbroken, and even though I love fuchsias, I have never planted another one.

Now, with more than 25 years of gardening experience behind me, I am distancing myself from types of gardening that I once enjoyed.

Now, faced with much more harsh realities, I can finally admit I just Don’t Want To Do This Anymore.

Now, I worry myself with the question: Do I really want to give up all the time I’ve invested in these plants?

Now, I look through supply shelves and wonder What happened to all my Energy?

I easily & uselessly lead myself on a guilt trip at the thought of discontinuing a once-loved gardening project. But! as with my Fuchsias, times lessons (in the form of freezing weather) can come to the rescue.

Time becomes an indistinct shadow when growing plants. Our ignorant impatience gives it ample opportunity to shade our ability to clearly visualize a path to becoming a bountiful vegetable gardener, growing the perfect rose or getting those fruit trees to produce their very best. Like a marriage, each project is potentially life-long and both begin with the planting of the seed. In order to be successful, marriage and gardening each require a commitment to Time and to The Project. Impatience can be disasterous!

Caution: gardening slows time!
Through age and experience, I have discovered many joys and left many behind. At more than half-past my life,
I’m only just beginning to reflect on what began as a simple planting project. I have discovered that there is enough time in life to experience beauty and achievement through gardening. I have found more than enough plant-growing avenues to explore. Ultimately & fortunately, I have found that growing things slows life’s pace and makes one stop and recognize time.

Gardening seems so unassuming....