My Ongoing Feud with Gardening.

I have always admired people who garden… You know the type. They usually walk into their garden with a cup of coffee, spend twenty minutes talking to their plants and flowers and somehow, they return with vegetables and fresh cut blossoms that look like they belong on the cover of a magazine.

I am NOT one of those people. My relationship with plants is… complicated…

Whenever I buy a new plant, and I tend to do so often, I am filled with optimism. ”This one is going to make it!”, I think. I read the label, I do my online research. ”Water once a week”. Easy, right? Yes. ”Keep it in direct sunlight”. Got it. That’s easy as well. ”Low maintenance”. Finally, that is a plant that fits me!

A month later, we are both disappointed. I, honestly, don’t know what happens. I water the plant and then I worry I’ve watered it too much. So I stop watering them for a little while. Then I convince myself it’s thirsty.

By this point, the poor thing has experienced more emotional ups and downs than a character in a soap opera of the 90s! Apparently, plants enjoy consistency. Who knew that!

The internet doesn’t help either. One website says to water a plant regularly, the other says the opposite. A third one casually mentions that the species I have chosen prefers rainwater collected under the light of a full moon while classical music plays in the background…

I am beginning to think that plants are just very picky roommates and don’t even get me started on weeds! How is it that plants I actually want seem to require constant encouragement, attention and motivational speeches while weeds grow through concrete out of pure spite?!?!

I once spent a whole afternoon removing weeds. Two days later, they were back there, laughing at me. They looked healthier than ever.

However, I believe that I should say away from gardening and yet I keep coming back. There’s something peaceful about it. It’s one of the few hobbies where time seems to slow down. You notice things you normally wouldn’t. Like a bee doing its rounds, the smell after watering the soil, a tiny flower that wasn’t there the day before. Even if half the garden is plotting against you.

Maybe that’s why I enjoy it. Not because I am good at it, because obviously, I am not. But because, for an hour or two, nobody expects anything from me. I am simply outside, getting my hands dirty and trying to keep something alive.

And every now and then, something actually grows against all odds. And when that happens, I stand back, I admire my work and convince myself that I have a natural gift for gardening. Until the next plant dies. Then we start this whole adventure again.

I supposed, that’s the think about gardening. The garden never holds a grudge. It gives you another chance. Even if the basil probably shouldn’t!