SEEDS & WEEDS: The Funniest Things People Have Said About GARDENING

THE FUNNIEST THINGS PEOPLE HAVE SAID ABOUT GARDENING 293
to hold this kind of grudge during the month of Easter — sorry, kids — but
Mr. Peter Cottontail . . . you can go shove it.
I never had an issue with rabbits until I started getting serious about
gardening. My fever for growing pretty things began with a patio-potted
hibiscus and some colorful coleus one summer and blossomed from there.
I got hooked. I started helping friends and family members with their
gardens, and before I knew it I was designing flowerbeds for a handful of
clients around town.
A few years back I got a job reestablishing perennial flowers around a
large domicile on Fairfield’s north side. The owner of the home remarked
that previous gardeners had planted several things, but much of it had
petered out. That’s weird, I thought — perennials are meant to come back
year after year. Maybe they suffered a couple hard winters or weren’t
suited to the soil type or light conditions? And there is a semi-deplorable
trend for flower sellers to label certain plants as perennials when in all
likelihood, in Iowa, they will behave like annuals (dead as a doornail come
winter). I’ve had many a success with plants bought from all kinds of
greenhouses, but buyer beware. Do your research first if you’re looking for
a perennial that acts like a perennial.
Anyway, I was up for the challenge of this new job, excited to bring
some color back to the property, but it wasn’t until after I started putting
a few things in the ground that I realized what part of the issue might
have been. The place was a haven for rabbits. Hungry ones.