Where have all the gardeners gooooone?

Sometimes I feel alone in my gardening hobby. I know that gardening clubs exist, but I also know I'll never follow-through on actually going to meetings or weeding together or whatever it is that they all do. My neighbors all take care of their landscape, but I get the feeling that they do so more out of a sense of duty than a love of green stuff. Like mowing the lawn; not a hobby, just another chore.

So where are the gardeners? I found them ALL at the garden center today. It was unexpected. I usually avoid strangers generally. And it is noon on a Tuesday. But suddenly I was getting marigold advice from a stranger and acting on it. Then I was selling Porter's Weed again (I love that stuff). Advice from someone on the ferns in my cart. A second, supporting opinion comes from the end of the line. And all of us were excited about Periwinkle making it's garden center debut recently. Suddenly all of us are chattering excitedly in line, helping each other juggle the plants in our hands and on our carts.

The cashiers just looked at all of us like we were freaks. And maybe we are, but quite honestly, I wanted to tell them, all you non-gardening folk are the real freaks. How can you not get excited about the feeling of warm soil in your hands? The sight of new growth on a plant? The wonder of a plant taking off in a direction you didn't expect? The birds are chirping, the weather is perfect and the flowers are budding. How is this not nirvana??

The gardener guy in the parking lot summed it up for me:

"Plants are great, aren't they?"

You bet.