Cuttings

You Might Be a DIGr (Determined Independent Gardener) If:

• You have local plant swaps circled on your calendar
• Look at your hands right now—got thorns, cuts, or dirty nails?
• You’ve rescued discarded plants or cuttings from neighbors’ curbs
• You check your garden at night with a flashlight
• You have something planted in a milk jug
• You deal with weeds by just planting stuff that’s taller
• A toolshed is a place of comfort—and you know where its spider hides
• You don’t mind bad smells if you know what they are from
• You can amuse yourself with your thumb over the end of the hose
• You’ve found seeds in wadded bits of paper from the washing machine
• You can smell a good rain an hour before it gets to your garden
• All you want for your birthday is someone to haul mulch for you
• Finding plants on your porch left by a secret admirer makes your week
• USDA Plant Hardiness Zones mean … nothing

—By famed Southern garden speaker, writer, radio host and personality Felder Rushing, from his book, Maverick Gardeners (University Press of Mississippi)

This article was published originally in 2022, in GreenPrints Issue #132.