On the Garden Rant blog they discuss their manifesto which states that they like chaotic messy gardens instead of picture perfect garden magazine photos. A former contributor to their blog, the Renegade Gardener begs to differ. He thinks aspiring to the perfection of most garden photos is a good thing. I do too. I get great ideas from magazine photos. To be honest, the articles don't interest me unless there are great photos or it is a well written piece on a subject that interests me.
Now, true confession. My deep dark secret is that I probably write as much (or more ) than I actually garden. I have health issues (lupus), resulting in fatigue and I cant be exposed to the sun for too long and I don't take heat very well. So you may ask how do I garden, Answer: very carefully. (ha!) I get help from a neighbor to mow the grass (I mean weeds) every 2 weeks and do mulching and pruning. I also get help from friends and family. Having a chronic illness for most of my life I decided a long time ago that since I feel like crap most of the time anyway, I might as well feel like crap while I am doing something I enjoy. Now in my 50's that is gardening. Parts of the garden are looking pretty good right now (if you don't look to close) and other parts are a mess. As a writer I can identify the bugs that are eating my hibiscus, I can tell you how to prevent the black spot which is defoliating my roses as we speak, and I can give you turf alternative such as the clover and weeds in my lawn. But when I sit out in a shady spot and doze off near the Zepherine Drouhin rose, while sipping iced herb tea made with my own herbs, I don't care about these imperfections. This is heaven and why I garden.
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