Webster's Dictionary defines the adjective "consummate" as:
1 : complete in every detail : perfect
2 : extremely skilled and accomplished (a consummate professional)
3 : of the highest degree (consummate skill)
I am not at all sure which of these applies to me as a gardener. I have been gardening since I was a pre-schooler, and finally completed my AS in horticulture/greenhouse production at the age of 32. I have been working in the industry and sharing my knowledge, both online and off, before and since.
Most of what I learned didn't come from books. Most of what I learned came straight from my experience. I've killed as many plants as I have succeeded in growing. I've found that I suffer from "zone denial disorder", a terrible affliction whereby you are not happy growing what can be grown in your climate, but you lust after the pretties from climates so unlike yours that you could not possibly succeed in making those plants happy where you are.
I have learned to "push the limits" in terms of culture, care, and climate to have something truly awe inspiring growing in my yard. Sometimes this means simply putting it into a pot to be brought in during inclement weather, and sometimes it means that you have to give up something to get something else, as in the case of the purple leaf plum that I have growing in zone 9b. It will never be the cloud of pink flowers that it was in my native state, but the leaves are the closest I will ever get to having that lovely japanese maple color in my yard. So I give up the flowers for the foliage.
I have always felt I had so much to share, and have been told time and time again that I should write a book. Maybe one day I will, but right now, a blog seemed like the perfect way to share my love of gardening, my knowledge, my failures, and my triumphs with the world.
I hope that you learn something here, and even if you don't, that you enjoy reading about my gardening adventures.
Happy Gardening!
Deborah
1 : complete in every detail : perfect
2 : extremely skilled and accomplished (a consummate professional)
3 : of the highest degree (consummate skill)
I am not at all sure which of these applies to me as a gardener. I have been gardening since I was a pre-schooler, and finally completed my AS in horticulture/greenhouse production at the age of 32. I have been working in the industry and sharing my knowledge, both online and off, before and since.
Most of what I learned didn't come from books. Most of what I learned came straight from my experience. I've killed as many plants as I have succeeded in growing. I've found that I suffer from "zone denial disorder", a terrible affliction whereby you are not happy growing what can be grown in your climate, but you lust after the pretties from climates so unlike yours that you could not possibly succeed in making those plants happy where you are.
I have learned to "push the limits" in terms of culture, care, and climate to have something truly awe inspiring growing in my yard. Sometimes this means simply putting it into a pot to be brought in during inclement weather, and sometimes it means that you have to give up something to get something else, as in the case of the purple leaf plum that I have growing in zone 9b. It will never be the cloud of pink flowers that it was in my native state, but the leaves are the closest I will ever get to having that lovely japanese maple color in my yard. So I give up the flowers for the foliage.
I have always felt I had so much to share, and have been told time and time again that I should write a book. Maybe one day I will, but right now, a blog seemed like the perfect way to share my love of gardening, my knowledge, my failures, and my triumphs with the world.
I hope that you learn something here, and even if you don't, that you enjoy reading about my gardening adventures.
Happy Gardening!
Deborah
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