I just picked my first hydrangeas today and put them in a little vase on the table.  I can’t even explain the pleasure it gave me.  But it something about the very basic connection to the earth you get when gardening, and the joy is seeing something grow….and the frustration when someone eats your baby lettuce (sorry, it’s true, found that annoying.)

But as I puttered around today, I realized how happy gardening has made me since I was a little girl.  It’s one of those things I encourage everyone to try.  And by try, I don’t mean have someone else do it for you, I mean do it yourself.  That is from where the satisfaction springs.

Today I also gave the recently found old lilac a hard prune.   Once hidden under other things, she gave me a few flowers this spring so I finally knew what she was in the midst of all the underbrush.   I have had fun with old lilacs before and I have found that you give them a bit of a fair, but hard prune and a little love,  much like the hydrangeas and rhododendrons I hard pruned last year, next year I bet the lilacs bloom like crazy.

A rose I transplanted last year from a way too shady spot has also rewarded me with the first couple of blooms I have ever seen on the plant.

My garden is growing and I am telling you, if you have never gardened you should.  It is worth it and good for the soul and generally I have found whatever ails you gets a little better after a little gardening.  Plus Chester County has some terrific independent plant nurseries with reasonable prices.

Start small.  Experiment.  You have nothing to lose and everything to gain.