When I was young I spent countless lazy days at my grandparents house learning to cross-stitch and quilt, weed the garden and can the vegetables, read vintage books, throw stones in the creek and explore. I think my favorite moments, though, were spent on the old swing soaring far above the flower garden that poured down the long slope outlining their country acreage. It seemed to me that grandma didn’t even need to water or weed this vast floral array for it to look and smell amazing. It was at those moments that I vowed to myself that one day I would have a blooming garden of my own.

I have moved a lot since then, never really having the opportunity to dig into growing flowers, and then it happened. I moved into a house that had a MASSIVE garden that spanned the entire width of the lot! The warm weather hadn’t yet arrived, but as I gazed out the kitchen window of my new home I was convinced that the plot showed promise. Half of it had sprigs of dry wildflowers backed by a fence laced with grapevines. The other half was open ground ripe with promise. The kids and I began excitedly making plans for our garden: strawberries, sweet corn, peppers, green beans, tomatoes and…flowers! Grandma would be proud.

As soon as a warm breeze blew in we were all outside with our garden gloves and tools. We watched with anticipation as the rotor-tiller turned over a few piles of sod before, with a grinding sigh, it gave up completely. We couldn’t be dissuaded that easily! We awkwardly dug and planted a few more rows by hand and slouched into the house several hours later, tired, dirty and happy. At the end of the season the kids and I were rewarded with a salad bowl worth of tomatoes and…a blooming half-garden! There really is no moral to this story other than don’t be afraid to get out there and get dirty. The first time around may not be as fruitful as you would like, but eventually the spring rains will come and your flowers will bloom!