And we're off!

Sign of the Shovel took the time to drive around New Jersey and photograph the most offensive, banal, and generally irritating gardens she could find. Yes! Somebody's got to stop these people!

Michele, please don't be swayed by suburban California gardens. If I see one more rockrose and agapanthus garden planted by a contractor, I'm going to run screaming for Mexico. Yes, there are some pretty plants, but there's also acres and acres of plastic-covered, bark-mulched, dull-shrubberied subdivisions. Why? Why?

She ends with gratitude for the garden she has, and I second that. Could you imagine living in a place (and there are bazillions of them in California) where your homeowners association would not ALLOW you to rip out the dreck the contractor planted and grow what you love?

Or even if you don't have an association and its by-laws there to dictate what you do with the overpriced postage stamp that is California real estate, imagine being contrained by your own worries about what the neighbors might think. What an awful way to garden--what an awful way to live! There's not a damn thing I can't bring home and stick smack dab in the front of my house. Now, if it's cool enough and not rooted firmly in the ground, somebody might walk off with it, but that's just another form of enthusiasm, right?

Sign of the Shovel: A Few Random Complaints, Plus A Giddy Hymn Of Praise