When I used to look out the window at my garden I saw flowers, trees, lawn and weeds. However, my view was always impacted by what I felt -- a sense of failure, confusion, and chaos. My gardening successes and failures were random at best. I had a hard time discerning the difference between a wild flower and a weed or a cucumber beetle and a lady bug. It all seemed like such a monumental, daunting amount of work. My inherent love of playing in the “dirt” just wasn't enough to create a flourishing garden. I even entertained the notion of pouring a truckload of cement over the whole thing and being done with it! Then a friend of mine told me she had just completed a Master Gardener class and thought I might enjoy it too. In a last ditch effort to save my garden from the cement truck, I signed up for the Master Gardeners of Solano County Program and I will be forever grateful I did. It's less than a year later and now when I look out my window at my garden I see an integrated, complex and magical universe I never knew existed.

When I started the Master Gardener class I thought I was the only person in the world overwhelmed and confused by her garden. I was surprised and delighted to know that I was not alone. In fact, there was a whole classroom full of other gardeners who experienced the same fears and frustrations I experienced. It was comforting to find a community of people with whom I felt at home, and unembarrassed by my lack of expertise.

Of course, when I looked over the syllabus for the class and the size and weight of the books I thought, “Oh, oh. Maybe I've dug myself into a hole here.” But, that wasn't the case. The classes were fast-paced and packed full of information, yes, but they were also compelling and fun. One class at time I found myself absorbing the material like a dry sponge dropped in a bucket of water. From the basics of plant biology to the more complex issues of Integrated Pest Management, from weed control to pruning plants and trees, understanding began to replace confusion and, as a result order began to replace chaos in my garden. More important, with my newfound knowledge came more curiosity and more courage to just get out there and get dirty and not worry so much about whether I was doing it all right or not.

The Master Gardener course also taught me to work at a slower pace in my garden. I don't just charge out there with the intent of getting the job done. I find myself spending more and more time observing and paying attention to all that it is going on, under the foliage, on branches, and in the soil. The more I witness, the more I understand, and the less I panic. The more I know where to turn with questions the more solutions I bring to the garden and the more my garden thrives.

My goal when I started the class was to gain knowledge about my roses, my citrus and fruit trees, and my vegetable garden. And I did learn all of that. But what I did not expect was the incredible realization that my garden is a world unto itself, constantly seeking balance and order all on its own. Another surprise I found through the Master Gardener class is that I am fascinated by all of the different life forms in my garden — butterflies, bees, frogs, beetles, aphids, spiders, and ants. I rarely go into my garden now without my camera, and my gardener's loupe. It is a little like going on Safari, on a great wild adventure. I'm witness to who is eating what, and whom. Who is supporting whom, and who is struggling to survive. I have good guys and bad guys in the garden, and I am seeing with my own eyes Mother Nature's incredible wisdom and majesty. Portions of my garden have now become like game preserves full of plants that attract pollinators, plants that help ward off enemy bugs, organic, biodynamic soil amendments and plants going to seed because their blossoms have not fallen yet and the bees love them.

But it doesn't end there. What I gained from the Master Gardener's Program in addition to knowledge is a sense of pride and a desire to share my knowledge with others. A friend asked me to have a look at her Avocado plant the other day. The plant was infested with aphids and a battalion of ants. I suggested she hose the plant off with a strong stream of water and then place ant control at the base of it. I explained how ants love the sweet honeydew nectar that aphids leave behind and that ants and aphids actually support each other to the detriment of the plants. Ants protect aphids from other predators, which allows aphids to proliferate. Ants and aphids have to be put in check. I also explained that monitoring the plant regularly would help her determine when the aphids and ants were starting up again and make managing them much easier. She has since reported back that aphids and ants are under control and her beautiful Avocado plant is once again bursting with vitality.

Gardening is exciting, thrilling in fact. Whether we are enjoying the heavenly fragrance of a rose or the sweet, juicy taste of a fresh peach just off the tree, marveling over a precious peony in the early morning light or the magic of a milkweed casting its seed into the wind, or witnessing a young katydid decimating a leaf or a baby mantis sunning itself on a leaf of sage, there is no end to Mother Nature's magnificent imagination. A vibrant, healthy garden is something we can all benefit from. Thanks to the Solano County Master Gardener's Program and all that I learned there and continue to learn each day through the vast network of information resources I have access to, I have a new appreciation for how animated and alive gardens really are. The cement truck is a distant memory and the joy of gardening is an ever present part of my life. Here are just a few of the things I've seen in my garden in recent weeks.

XX