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I’ve not always been a gardener. It was after I got married that my wife suggested that I take up gardening as a hobby. At the time, she had no idea what she had started. 
We had just bought our first house in Knoxville, TN. It was a brand new house with a few shrubs and a couple of trees planted in the front yard.
I started out with a small flower garden next to our backyard patio and a vegetable garden in the back of the yard.
I thoroughly enjoyed researching the type of plants that could be best planted there. I studied for hours various seed catalogs because I had so much to learn. I bought a book and studied the appropriate chapters. I would go to plant nurseries and garden centers and spend my time viewing and reading about various trees, shrubs, flowers, and vegetables.
After 3 years we moved to Connecticut. That is where my gardening hobby really blossomed (so to speak).
The first 3 years there, I got involved in vegetable gardening in a big way.. Our house had a vacant wet lands lot next to us. I was given permission to use the property as a vegetable garden.
I thoroughly enjoyed the winter days I spent planning my garden.
My garden was 40 feet by 50 feet. I grew corn, potatoes, okra, broccoli, tomatoes, green beans, lima beans, crowder peas, green peas, carrots, yellow squash, zucchini, butternut squash, acorn squash, radishes, lettuce, kale, turnip greens, mustard greens, asparagus, strawberries, and so many other vegetables I can’t list them all here.
We canned and froze so many vegetables that my wife was ready to divorce me. I’m sure she regretted the day she told me to take up gardening as a hobby. By the way, my wife and I have now been married for almost 40 years.
I didn’t stop at vegetable gardening. I planted trees, shrubs, and added flower gardens.
We later moved to another house in the same town. It was there that I started rose gardening in a major way.
I have spent hours researching rose bushes. I have checked out the quality of the rose, their fragrance, and their resistance to disease and insects. I know how to care for roses in the growing season and in the winter. I have found that it is really not that difficult to take care of them.
After 9 years we moved from Connecticut to Lexington, KY, then middle Tennessee for several years.
The bottom line is that I love gardening. All types of gardening and landscaping – shade trees, evergreen trees, flowering trees, flowering shrubs, evergreen shrubs, spring flowering bulbs, perennial and annual flowers, roses, and vegetables. I’ve grown plants from cuttings, seeds, and nursery plants.
Here’s the thing. I don’t do this for the praise of others. I do it for my wife and me. I enjoy nothing more than having a pleasant backyard that I can enjoy sitting out on my screened in porch, patio, or deck.
I am a Christian. I like nothing more than enjoying the peace and tranquility of viewing my backyard.
I would like to help you have that experience.
