The Rewards of the Pursuit of Gardening

In the chain of command of all things, gardening can be placed at the head because gardening keeps you feeling young enough to enjoy life's other marvels. This is generally the belief of those of us who have houses in France. In this hobby, we pass along the reverence for life to our children, with whom we can plant cabbage and onion seeds and get as exhilarated as they do when the seedlings poke out of the ground. In addition, common sense tells us that pre-teens who grow vegetables are more likely to gobble them.

I've known a fair number of the elderly who do gardening and I've seen that they are more responsive and have less knee and hip problems. Older gardeners may be able to plant fewer shrubs and find that weeds constantly infest their yard, but they walk through life with a joy that companionship with the ladybugs can give.

Only a real gardener would spend hours on a single exquisite ornamental plant and not feel guilty. Only a committed gardener would spend long evenings enthralled by garden catalogs. Only a real gardener can derive resiliency from the experience of finding out that his exquisite plants have been eaten by pests.

Gardening also shows us the rapture of managing a garden and the delightful responsibility of caring for a tiny seedling that blossoms in time. When your gardening days are finally over, there is no lack of students who can extend what you have done.