August 19, 2007

By Sally Koppenberg

By this time of the year, the emotional gamete of gardening has been run. But don't even begin to think it's over!

There are still plenty of pests out there waiting to pounce on your finally perfect delphiniums, your almost giant cabbages and your ready to harvest turnips.

Fall pests range from various forms of worm life and late hatching aphids to hungry mice. And of course, there's the ever present chance that Mr. and Mrs. Moose will come calling with all of there children. Thankfully, they like to keep the families small. We've had hail this already this year and I wouldn't rule out a way-too-early frost or so much rain that the entire herb garden turns into a non-penetrable bog.

The capriciousness of nature just never ends.

So much fun! The unexpectedness of the pursuit is what keeps gardening tops on my list of life's enrichments. It brings great joy and never ceases to surprise and educate. It also brings humility.

Anyone who's gardened for any period of time is slow to accept praise as their mind races over ‘what should have been' while a well-meaning admirer sees only the end result knowing nothing of the battles ragging between drought and slugs.

I suppose the point is different for all of us, but for me it goes back to joy and curiosity.

If you are a gardener, your life, no matter what its length, will always be filled with the wonder of the unknown.

Despite a lot of pretending, there is no such-thing as a gardening expert. (Sorry to disappoint). The vast amount of unknown knowledge, the mysteries of fallen green soldiers-these things will take a life-time to explore with plenty left for the next generation.

Grown weary of trollius? Bored with too many flowers? Perennials so under control they grow themselves? What is that weird bug our there- I've not seen that guy before?! Never fear there is always one more thing to explore and a book or two, or may be several dozen, on almost any gardening subject imaginable. I love to browse book Web sites and book store isles. Here is but a small list of gardening categories I found just this morning. Any of these categories had endless lists of books. Bored you said? I don't think so. Remember, these are not individual books, but categories (four dozen of them, to be exact).

Annuals; mosses, ferns and fungi; native plants from vertically any region of the world; plant art; hard structures in the garden; birds in the garden; natural history; botany; bulbs; bent wood and twig furniture; concrete work for the garden; cacti and succulents; children's gardening; composting; organic gardening; tropical and exotics; greenhouse gardening; orchids; rocks and stones; alpine gardens; perennials; climbers and vines; botanical gardens or the world (or regional); conservation; plant science; cut flower gardening; economic horticulture; ethnobotany; forestry; gardening history; shade gardening; grasses; ground covers; general gardening (growing); trees and shrubs; evergreens; small gardening; city gardening; herbs; edibles; landscaping; water and bog gardens; designing; garden literature; drought gardening; gates and fences; paths... Really, I could go on and on. And the point is so could you.

With this much richness to our passion, no wonder gardeners are the most interesting people in the world.

Even as the gardens are being enjoyed in all of their fall glory and you are admiring the giant cabbages at the fair, plan for a full winter of book gardening.

Oh! Look! That's a new category!

Of all the pitfalls in the garden, the pit of boredom should never be one of them.

Sally Koppenberg is a garden and food designer and the owner of Stonehill Gardens, a nursery & catering company specializing in Alaska Grown foods, trees, shrubs, perennials and native plants. Contact her at stonehill@gci.net.