The Need to Garden? It Can Be Wicked.

I was chatting with a friend about poisonous plants, and it reminded me that I need to read Amy Stewart's "Wicked Plants: The Weed That Killed Lincoln's Mother and Other Botanical Atrocities."

So while searching for the book,  I stumbled across the Web site of Genevieve Schmidt, a Northern California landscaper based in Arcata, Calif. Her site, www.northcoastgardening.com, is chock full of helpful advice and is all written by her in a charming, witty voice that encouraged this writer to keep on reading. The passage below from her "About" section particularly struck a chord because it sums up why I and tens of thousands of other plant fanatics like me NEED to garden. 

"These people – you, me – we have something in our souls that need expressing. Maybe we don’t feel we can draw, and our singing voice stinks. But plants? I mean, it’s hard to make a flower look ugly, previous jokes about red and pink petunias aside. And the fact that it’s our nurturing that allows this beauty to unfold, and our love that brings the hummingbirds and honeybees flocking – well, I just think gardening’s a vocation and a calling that goes far beyond just being a hobby."

So perfectly and eloquently stated. Thank you, Genevieve.