by Terri Combs-Orme Ph.D.

Created on: August 12, 2008   Last Updated: August 21, 2011

Better Character Through Gardening

My gardening reflects my personal character and, alas, I have been found wanting.

Spring always finds me enthusiastic, believing again that the sunlight can come back, I can redeem my pitiful output from last year, and world peace is a real possibility. I start looking for the first snowdrops (Galanthus nivalis) in the back, near the woods, right after New Year's. This is a good feature of my character; I am unfailingly optimistic, certain even in the throes of what seems like 20 minutes of sunshine a day that soon I will be blinded by light as if I lived at the equator.

I start digging in the dirt way too early, sometimes hurting a shoulder trying to force the frozen earth to cooperate. Again we see one of my good characteristics; I like to start early, hate putting things off. The early bird.and all that. Of course some years that means that I plant well in advance of our last frost, expending my limited gardening budget on little bulbs and plants who will never live to see the coming sun. Lesson learned (several times, actually).

Then my character flaws start to assert themselves. If three plants do not fill the space on the first day, why not plant six? Or ten? Okay, the gardening store guy told me that they will spread, but that takes weeks. I want it now. Impatience: I have lived with it all my life without making a whole lot of progress.

Actually, this year I implemented a project designed to improve my character. I love caladiums, and I want them immediately. I hate waiting. (And I never take them out of the ground and protect them for next year, but that's another flaw we will discuss below.) This year I took a deep breath and bought bulbs. Yes, bulbs that I planted on May 1. On May 3, I went out to dig them up and throw them away because there was no color, but I changed my mind just as my trowel hit the dirt. Wait another.week. Surely something will be happening by then.

Nope. It actually took about three weeks, several sessions of meditation, and some consultation with several caladium experts for something to happen (well, for me to wait for it to happen). And thenamazinglyI found that it was fun to go out and just watch nature unfold day by day. This experiment has been so successful that I may try planting seeds next year (if I decide I can afford psychotherapy).

About July my worst character flaw becomes evident. I like a chaotic garden, not those sculpted unnatural things that look like photographs. I like

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