Container Gardening Uncertainty

Container Garden Mums
Photo © Kerry Michaels

I read a very thought provoking article in the New York Times, by Alina Tugend that spoke about coping with uncertainty. There is apparently even a day, November 17, designated, “Coping With Uncertainty Day.” It occurred to me that every day, when container gardening, is a ‘coping with uncertainty day’. There is absolutely nothing certain except uncertainty in all realms of gardening and that is what makes it so splendid and so rip your hair out crazy-making (ok, not compared to lots of things, but still when your beautiful tomato that you’ve loved and tended and coddled gets eaten by a woodchuck just before you were going to pick it, only someone either saintly or brain-dead wouldn’t go completely nuts).

I guess when it comes down to it (and I realize I’m at risk of ridiculous sentimentality) container gardening is like life, completely uncertain and gorgeously complex. And that’s what makes it so wonderfully interesting.