On Gardening

This picture was taken at the Arnold Arboretum, where I worked this summer.  It was a wonderful summer, and the Arnold is a fantastic place.  It was taken on my last day there, and I miss it, and the people I worked with there quite a bit.  Everyone was amazing, and the Arnold is a beautiful arboretum in the middle of a beautiful city.  I wish I was still there, especially now as the semester gets into gear and my classes start picking up.

But really, this is about something I love to do.  I love to garden.  I love to spend hours out in the sun doing all kinds of things, be it weeding, or pruning, or removing invasive species.  I love the work, and the end result.  I love the feel of soil between my fingertips.  I love the color green in all its myriad shades.  And there are so many shades of green.

My summers interning at various gardens have taught me that, taught me how wonderful it feels to have spent a full day working in a garden.  I am consistently amazed that I have found this thing which I love so much, and which I find so rewarding.  I never imagined that this is what I would love the most about plants when I first started to study horticulture, but I love to work in a garden, surrounded by beautiful plants and working with wonderful people.

It is hard work.  It is intense and demanding, and I love the sheer physicality of it.  I am so happy to say that I love what I do, and I would not have it any other way.