I got into gardening by accident. Kind of. My first "adult" home was a townhouse condo, with an HOA that didn't care about what grew in the front beds of the home. I had no interest in planting anything outside (even in college I had pots of simple plants in my room) because I still associated "gardening" with "weekend chores."

Then two of my neighbors gave me extra flower bulbs (at the time I thought they were just nice people — it was only years later that I recognized this is a byproduct of plants with bulbs or rhizomes, and the "nice person" is the one who takes the damn extras off your hands every couple years) and I planted them (that's what you do with bulbs, right? this was pre-Internet, I had to guess) in the fall, and was delighted by the flowers in the spring. THIS IS SO COOL!

Eventually I learned about annuals versus perennials (and the annuals that keep coming up every year — wait, what?), deer/rodent resistance vs. LUNCH!, plants that need attention vs. plants that are happiest when left alone vs. plants that will take over unless fought with holy fervor (looking at YOU, iris!)...

I like puttering around in the yard now! And I tell my smart watch it's exercise, and it believes me. 😁