As we are learning to keep our distance yet craving to visit others, I have noticed my gathering spaces are changing. No more dinners on my cozy back porch or parties in the house. Now we are causally gathering in the front yard, the side yard — or even in the driveway.

Winter in the springtime? Yep, it’s a thing. As Appalachian folklore and gardeners will tell you, there are several mini-winters that happen throughout the spring.

These days everyone is talking about what they are binge watching. Something about a tiger, or a mountain range or a creek. They all sound entertaining, but it got me to thinking about binging and gardening, and blooming plants.

Reading, writing, and arithmetic — oh, if homeschooling was that easy. Today, there are Zoom meetings, chat groups, restless kids and exhausted parents. Maybe spending time in the garden is just what everyone needs.

The past few years, I have been working to transform my shade gardens. That’s just a fancy way of saying I’ve been replacing and adding plants, trying to find what will grow to be happy, healthy and luscious in the shade.

Oh, how I miss rambling through garden centers. Looking for treasures and talking with the staff — it’s what we gardeners do in the spring. It’s how we learn and share information. But this spring is different.

Happy Easter! A holiday of traditions; church services, hats, decorated eggs, chocolate, baskets and bunnies. And carrots — this is a garden column after all.

I have the privilege of working from home this spring.

Social distancing. Sounds like a way to spend more time in the garden to me, and I’m all in.

If you have a shady spot in your garden, I hope you are growing hellebores. You might know them by their common name: Lenten rose.

I’m antsy with anticipation, wistfully watching the calendar — spring is less than a month away. Seed catalogs are arriving daily, newsletters are full of helpful hints, and I can’t wait.

Most of my core gardening and farming skills come from watching my elders grow things.

Laverne and Shirley, Lucy and Ethel, Cagney and Lacey — you get the drift, some things just go together. A visit from my sister’s longtime friend and all the fun that followed has got me thinking about unbeatable combinations.

My snowdrops began blooming just days before the February snow. Coincidence? Nah, I think Mother Nature knew exactly what she was doing.

The peace lily, it might be the world’s easiest-to-grow houseplant. Maybe that’s why I have three at home and one rescue at the office.

The spark for my writing often comes from a conversation with friends. Usually, it is an innocent question or statement that turns in my mind and falls onto the page as I process the thoughts. That’s what happened with a simple question, “What grows here?”

What the heck do you do with a poinsettia after Christmas? Well, you can guess what I do: If I don’t keep chrysanthemums after the fall season, I definitely don’t keep poinsettias after the holidays.

Oh what fun it is dashing and dancing my way through the Christmas holidays! Most of my shopping is done, but I still have a few folks on my list. Luckily they are gardeners, and I have some ideas.

Over the years, I have come to garner quite a collection of flora friends around my house.

As the leaves continue to fall, the perennials go dormant and the earth starts tucking itself in for a winter sleep, we find time to ponder our lives, the world and how much there is to be genuinely grateful for. And while we’re kicking our thoughts of abundance into high gear, there’s time …

Succulents are tricky little plants. They look easy to grow, everyone says they are, yet somehow I struggle to keep them alive.

Today has been the kind of autumn day you see in the movies. You know what I mean: blue skies, sun shining, sweater weather temperatures, and the trees showing off their golden colors. What a glorious fall day, but good grief I worked hard.

The beginning of the holiday season is here, and the first fall frost is in our rear-view mirror.