A Down-To-Earth Approach to Gardening: Perfection is not possible, nor is perfection what a garden is about. It is about change driven by the cycles of the seasons and the aging of the plants. Plants behave differently in different environments, and thus each garden is unique. For a garden to thrive a gardener, like a seamstress, has to specialize in alterations.

And many garden myths are just that--fallacies passed along from gardener to gardener that do nothing but mislead. Questioning what's taken for granted is part of the fun--especially when it comes to all the hogwash attached to growing roses. Here are some of the rules I have embraced:

• For the greatest impact, garden up!
• Plants die. Accept it!
• Just say no to chemicals.
• When in doubt, sow alyssum.
• If you don't know it, don't pull it.
• Unless you want to be a weekly weeder, don't leave bare soil.
• Plant more bulbs-the easiest path from rags to riches.
• Allow plants three strikes before they're out.
• Learn when to fight, when to turn your head, and when to accept defeat!
• Don't follow plant fads.
• A shady spot is an opportunity for a soothing garden.
• When designing a garden, pay no attention to a plant's classification.
• When something needs doing, just do it.
• Wise gardeners grow common flowers.
• A gardener's thumb is only brown when soil clings.
• Trial and error is the best teacher.
• Each plant does not need its own square footage.
• Let plants lean, hug, and climb on each other.
• Pruning is a sometime thing.
• Make time to enjoy the garden.
• You can rationalize anything.
• Occasionally, bring in the clowns.
• Never take yourself too seriously.
• Throw out the rules!

(from Suzy Bales' Down-to-Earth Garden, published by Rodale 2005)