Well, hello!

I have finally decided to officially put my oar in and start a blog. I've started and stopped many times over the past few years, thinking, "What have I got to say that hasn't already been said? Who really wants to look at pictures of my weedy and slug-bitten plot of land?" But I am squashing that inner critic, and am quite excited to share with the world my little slice of paradise.

The floriferous front yard in early summer.

A bit about me: I am first and foremost a gardener. I have been gardening ever since I was old enough to put seeds in the ground (which, according to photographic evidence, was around age 2).
I was raised by my grandparents, who also were born with the gardening bug. Yard duties were split in half, with the care and feeding of ornamentals in Grandma's domain (primarily roses, peonies, and bulbs with names like "glads", "jonquils", and "naked ladies"), while Grandpa took on the serious tasks of raising food for our family to eat and maintaining a vast green lawn to keep us respectable.
My task was to revel in it all: smelling flowers, inspecting spiders, grazing in the veggies, scolding neighborhood kids who trampled perennials or kicked balls into the shrubbery, and lamenting the lack of climbable trees in the vicinity.

Me and Gram, tending some roses.

My very first plot of land was a sunny strip next to our backyard patio. Grandpa gave me a packet of marigold seeds, which we gently planted together. I remember only getting a few plants out of it. I was so disappointed! Wasn't every little seed a guaranteed flower? Undaunted, I tried sowing cosmos, and was rewarded with pink and white flowers on plants much taller than I was. Shameless self-seeders as they are, the cosmos came back threefold the following year. By the time I was in middle school, the patch had grown to a full-fledged wildflower garden. At some point in tending this plot, I learned about thinning plants and saving seeds. I don't remember anyone teaching me; it just came naturally.

Yellow cosmos. I saved seed from some plants I found in Oaxaca.

As I grew into adulthood, I grew a garden no matter where I was: tomatoes on fire escapes in downtown apartment buildings, herbs on balconies, and flowers in untended parking strips. Finally I was able to rent a house with a yard. The front yard got the best sun, so I immediately removed all the grass and planted veggies and flowers.

Front yard tomato jungle! 

Slowly, my passion started becoming my profession. I started working part-time as a gardener at an eldercare community that had a horticultural therapy program. I took a permaculture certification course. I worked on a farm in Oaxaca, Mexico. I designed containers for local businesses. My full-time gig is at an independent retail nursery, keeping the annuals fluffy, the veggies stocked, the displays tempting, and always doling out advice by the bushel.
I moved to a little house with a much bigger yard, which over the past five years I have stuffed with as many plants as possible, always restless to try something new and fabulous. What some designers call "a case of the onesies" I call a curated plant collection! I simply cannot stay out of the dirt.
I am constantly growing and exploring. I look forward to sharing and learning on this journey!

Still growing marigolds and cosmos...and lots of other lovely things!