I may or may not have mentioned to you all that I am in the early stages of piecing together book ideas. These ideas range from straight forward gardening to a mash-up of gardening/personal anecdotes.

I don’t know why it took me so long to realize what the first (yeah I said “first”) book should cover but I think I’ve determined the topic.

Care to guess?

I know you know it.

It’s a part of almost every post that I write, especially from early summer and into the fall and winter.

Yep, you nailed it.

ORNAMENTAL GRASSES.

Was there ever any other choice? Of course not.

Deep down I’ve always known but it wasn’t until I started taking photos before I left for work recently that it all came together.

I do this every single day.

Stare out at my grasses and thank my lucky stars that they exist.

I photograph them as if they were my kids.

We chat and I praise them when deserved and scold them when they aren’t putting in a full effort.

A big ups to whomever invented them or should I say, introduced them to the world as a garden option.

My garden would be next to nothing without them. They are the backbone and they helped me form my identity as a gardener.

The number of questions I receive in regards to grasses via email, in the hallway at work or at the holidays is phenomenal and I’m always thrilled to chat. And if I may forego my humble nature for a moment here, the “you da grass man” comments are another reason why I believe a book is the calling. One recent comment that a put a big ass smile on my face:

Hi John, late post here just to compliment you on your beautiful photos. Since following your blog, I find myself craving more grasses in our landscape and I’m gradually winning my husband and fellow gardener over to my side since they are relatively deer proof.

Swoon.

On to the book.

I have a general feel for the direction and for the content but I’ll keep that as a surprise for now. I have a lot of research to complete and a lot of experts to track down and a lot of gardens to visit. It may sound a bit overwhelming but I got this.

And remember that each of you promised to buy ten copies when it is released.

You’re so awesome.

Seriously, I would pay you handsomely for your feedback on what you would want from a book centered around ornamental grasses.

What intrigues you?

What doesn’t?

Is design as important as understanding all that exists in the grass world?

Do you desire maintenance advice?

Does the history of grasses, both in the US and across the globe tickle your fancy?

Human interest or get to the point already John?

A comment to this post would be great or an email (ongardener@yahoo.com) would work as well.

I’ll be flexing my writing muscle heavily this winter and your feedback would be an incredible means for better understanding what the people want, what the people demand.

While I hopefully still have your attention (and thank you for that by the way) I’m going to self promote just a smidge more.

You may have noticed a while back that I returned to the Obsessive Neurotic Gardener blog name. I struggled with the desire to remain focused on gardening versus the desire to write about other stuff.

Once I discovered the medium that is Medium.com it all became obvious. Keep this blog as ONG and use Medium as an outlet for my other writing desires. One helps feed the other.

So far so good and I’m loving the path I’ve chosen.

If it wouldn’t be a bother, I’d love for you to check out the stories below that I’ve written over at Medium.

Late night walks with Mia

Rick Springfield analysis

Writing formula

How I don’t write

Time to move on

While I think the style of writing is still all me, I’ve discovered that I love to write about writing more than I ever imagined.

And 80’s icons …

And my wacky ass dog …

I am forever changed.

I am no longer the “Obsessive Neurotic Gardener”.

Sure, I’ll continue to garden, just not “obsessively” and absolutely not “neurotically”.

I’ll continue to write, but it won’t be solely focused on the garden and my plant affection. There will be a dose of anger and whatever tickles my fancy that day. You may have realized that already but if not, my apologies in advance.

And it is all because of the threat of this f’n pipeline.

Beware of rambling rant to come.

I spent my entire evening crafting a long winded note to FERC (The “Federal Energy Regulatory Commission”), the governmental commission that is allegedly “overseeing” the potential construction of the Penn East pipeline. With the uncertainty of what lies ahead and a constant feeling of “What can I do to fight for the cause?”, I find myself drawn to writing. It keeps my mind occupied, allows for the release of pent up anger and makes me feel like I am contributing in some small way.

It is just so hard to fathom what little say we have in this entire process outside of putting up some signs on our lawns or submitting website comments. But damn if it doesn’t feel good to put those angry words on paper (figuratively speaking). And I’ve never been more impressed by all those who have given so much in this fight even if they aren’t directly affected. We are talking passion, perseverance and intelligence like I’ve never seen before.

With the real possibility that my yard may be torn to bits within the next two years, it is impossible for me to think long term in terms of a garden. And that is exactly what drew me into gardening ever since I awkwardly planted that first hydrangea back in 1997. The long range planning was exciting with infinite possibilities (not to mention a nice way to survive the winter doldrums).

At the same time, gardening provides you with short term “wins” (not to mention a bevy of constructive “losses”) along the way while you are trying to ultimately build that dream garden. And even though we all know that dream garden is difficult if not impossible to attain, we love the process. We really really love the process.

We love the research through on-line forums and magazines.

We love that surprise bloom from a perennial we had given up on.

We love visiting another garden and saying “I’m going to steal that idea”.

We love tearing it up and starting all over, convinced this is the time we will get it all right.

But now I’ve lost all of that mojo. The romanticism of gardening is gone. It is impossible to feel obsessive and senseless to remain even the least bit neurotic.

I hope this is temporary and only time will tell. I hate the fact that I’m allowing greed and the governmental co-conspirators to affect me so deeply. I’m more pissed off than I’ve ever been in my life. I’m becoming that guy that trusts no one; that happy-go-lucky and admittedly naive dude is now in the rear view. And worst of all, is the feeling of helplessness. Too much hurry up and wait.

Look, I realize things could be much worse. I’m not that far gone and I’m not looking for your sympathy in any way. We all have our battles over the course of our lifetime and this just happens to be one of them for us. I just happen to deal with it better by vocalizing it and hoping it can have even the tiniest positive impact. Writing is what I do.

And I know it may sound strange after everything I’ve written to this point, but in an odd way, this experience, even in its earliest of stages, has changed me in a positive way. 

I may have lost the wonder of what my garden may hold for me in the future, but I have never been more present than I am right now. I spend more time feeling than I do planning. I feel proud of what I’ve built/accomplished without much focus on what I still need to do.

I can even say that I’ve paid more attention to my container plants than ever before. Enjoy the moment, enjoy all of those ripe tomatoes while they last.

I also sense that the kids are learning from this experience. Yes, they are losing faith in the government and the ways of the powerful people, but hopefully they are on board with standing up for what you believe in. Even when things look dire, never give up. And never take your earth for granted; it is an invaluable resource that we must not f with.

And finally, I know I said it before but it bears repeating; there are so many good people who dedicate themselves to the cause in such a selfless manner. These people are our neighbors and we need to thank them more. A sense of community is being built and strengthened and it is one that cannot be broken.

We are angry and disillusioned, but we are not giving up.

A few thoughts bouncing around in the old noodle today.

Last week I visited a coworkers home/property during our lunch hour to check out his landscape. It was beautifully laid out with multiple stone walls, mature trees, a small pond and it all backed up to a sweet wooded area.

The plantings were sparse so I started dreaming up a plan as if I had already been hired as his landscape architect (FYI, my rates are competitive). Turns out the dude wanted mulch and not too much else. Plants were too much maintenance and controlling the weeds was the main concern.

This has to be the 3rd or 4th time I’ve had the same conversation over the past few weeks. Mulch, mulch, mulch. I get it to an extent, but I am failing miserably in my attempts to persuade friends/family to pursue “plants”. I need  to work on my “elevator speech” so I can convert the “I don’t want to be converted crowd”.

But more on that at a later date.

I really want to talk about just how phenomenal the show “The Americans” is … just kidding. Well I’m not kidding, I’m dead serious but that is also for another blog for another day.

How about those Mets? Sorry, now to the important stuff.

While I was drooling over my coworker’s landscape, he mentioned that the home’s previous owners had taken a one year sabbatical to address their yard. How frickin awesome is that? And who the hell gets to do that? I think if I presented that idea to my boss, I would be laughed out of the cube and all the way to the unemployment line.

But damn wouldn’t that be fun and rewarding and healthy and invigorating and frustrating and expensive and tiring and life changing? Can you imagine spending 365 days solely focused on the outdoors and getting your garden/yard in shape? Oh what I could accomplish and I could realistically dream big and finally deliver on my many lofty dreams.

So I am asking you all today for a favor. Spread the word that I want a large corporation/entity to sponsor “My year in the garden”. I’ll carefully document and film it all and I’m thinking it could make it to Cannes if done right. Or maybe it is a weekly reality show. Either way, it would be inspirational and dramatic with a dash of heartbreak and humor. Remember you heard it here first and you were there from the beginning.

I’m not sure yet how I’ll address the day job but that minor detail can be worked out at a later date.

Grats.

I’ll now leave you with more images of my garden as it rounds into shape. I love spring and I love plants before they are fully blooming. The promise is intoxicating.

“Here we go Trollius, Here we go.”

Geranium ‘Espresso’ flowers ain’t so far away now.

Baptisia has become a personal favorite and it is ready to deliver.

Elsewhere, flowers have arrived and I’m doing my damndest to enjoy them while they last.

Crabapple ‘Prairifire’ has phenomenal color although the shape of the tree needs to be addressed at some point.

I really like these ‘Hillstar’ Daffodils which were planted this past November.

Let’s pretend that this Fothergilla ‘Mt. Airy’ is covered in blooms and that it was never touched by the deer. How fun.

This Brunnera came out of nowhere and I have no memory of planting it. I’m awesome.

I have Ajuga everywhere and when it blooms, it makes quite a statement. Nothing can kill it and I’ve found it pretty easy to keep it in check.

And I’ll leave you with this. Don’t fret over the dandelions. They are our your friend. I’m dead serious. Read this.

You’re welcome.

Let’s up the ante a bit …

I am demanding that a certain individual join me in the quest to “garden our asses off” in 2015. Or as I am want to call it, “All in”.

I have not personally contacted said individual about this challenge so he will not be aware of it until he reads it here. I am confident he will accept the challenge and together, this dynamic duo will take the horticultural world by storm.

I like to think I was a garden mentor to this guy. I think this blog inspired him to find his inner P. Allen Smith. He actually told me he cut hydrangea blooms off of his neighbor’s shrub in the middle of the night and put them in a vase. How can you not like this guy already?

Together we will give you:

Riveting, edge of your seat You Tube videos.

Dramatic and tense moments only rivaled by Real Housewives of New Jersey.

Demand for a reality TV show that we will turn down because we always keeps it real. 

So Matt, it is officially out there and I await your response. Don’t let me down.

P.S. For those of you unaware, Matt and I are coworkers and we had/have a blog all about our daily lunches at Wegmans. A bromance before the term ever existed.

If you would like more background on our adventures, click here. I warn you, it is addicting … and you’ll never look at me the same again.

… and we’ll get to that in a few.

First off, thank you all for your feedback and comments. Blogging for me has been a weird mash-up of narcissism/creative outlet/escape from reality/taking myself and gardening too seriously in good and bad ways.

But through it all, I still get jacked up witnessing readers who are actually interested in my blabbering nonsense.  Scratch that, not all is blabbering nonsense; my ornamental grasses are kind of awesome so they fall outside of the blabbering nonsense category.

A common theme with the comments was “Why not incorporate all of the ideas?” Great point. And I think to some extent I have included them all over the years … as have most gardeners I know. We all try to “smell the roses” more often, are thrifty when it comes to purchasing plants, try to get the kids involved and attempt to grow more of our own healthy food.

But what I think piqued my interest the most was trying to go to the extremes with each of the individual concepts.

Case in point:

Option 1 – “Do Nothing” 
This is friggin insanity.

Yet a real test of the will.

Who knows, maybe it will free up time for other interests? Maybe allowing your garden to proceed without any human intervention is the right way to do it? All of the meddling may be holding it back and this would prove that out. More enjoyment and less labor.

This is friggin insanity and a blog killer. But I can’t stop thinking about it.

Option 2 – “Buy Nothing”  
Just how difficult would it be to not buy any plants for one year? I know it flies in the face of being an “obsessive gardener”, but maybe it is the ultimate “enjoy what you have”.

I know I tend to ignore many of my sturdy and reliable plants and focus mainly on the “new”. Kind of like always focusing your attention on the problem child while the good one is ignored and underappreciated.

Could this be the ultimate opportunity to get reacquainted with the old stand-bys? Remind them that we love them and appreciate them for all that they do.

While this direction sounds kind of awful, I can’t help but wonder if I could pull it off.

Option 3 – “Strict Budget” 
Is a strict gardening budget a great lesson in ingenuity? I have never placed a specific restriction on my garden spending and would love to see how I react to it.

Plant purchases would be methodically and painstakingly reviewed as would all the others buys (soils, containers, mulch,etc.). All about priorities and identifying opportunities.

Makes all the sense in the world, but also kind of boring reading material. You deserve so much more than that.

Option 4 – “Operation Get Kids Involved”
I know I should say all the right things here, but I really have no interest. Sorry kids.

Option 5 – “All in”
Hold off on this one for a minute …

Option 6 – “No more meat”
Yet another test of my restraint.

Come to think of it, what is it with my need to restrain myself? I realize part of it is entertainment value. I would find a lot of humor in the attempt to not buy plants, spend money or eat meat. I think it could be comic gold and you all know deep down all I want to do is make people laugh. Comedic gardening blog … there’s a huge demand for that right?

The other part of this restraint need is deeply psychological. I’ll have to get back to you after I’ve had some time to work it all out. I fear the results.

As for becoming vegetarian, I have some issues to work out with my own hyprocrisy when it comes to the treatment of animals and my love of a cheeseburger. I’ll leave it at that for now. We all know how this type of debate is treated in the Facebook world we live in today. John doesn’t “like” this.

And now we revisit …

Option 6 – “All in”
I know you know that I knew where I was going all along. Not that I didn’t value the other options, but for me, this was the only way to go.

Go big or go home.

And all I really needed to remind me of where I want to go, are the three photos below:

Less lawn and more plants.

Hard labor.

Plant decisions.

Additional space for more plants.

Sweaty 6:00 AM digging sessions in July.

Bad plant decisions quickly rectified the next day.

Is it March yet?