You Might Be a DIGr (Determined Independent Gardener) If:

• You have local plant swaps circled on your calendar
• Look at your hands right now—got thorns, cuts, or dirty nails?
• You’ve rescued discarded plants or cuttings from neighbors’ curbs
• You check your garden at night with a flashlight
• You have something planted in a milk jug
• You deal with weeds by just planting stuff that’s taller
• A toolshed is a place of comfort—and you know where its spider hides
• You don’t mind bad smells if you know what they are from
• You can amuse yourself with your thumb over the end of the hose
• You’ve found seeds in wadded bits of paper from the washing machine
• You can smell a good rain an hour before it gets to your garden
• All you want for your birthday is someone to haul mulch for you
• Finding plants on your porch left by a secret admirer makes your week
• USDA Plant Hardiness Zones mean … nothing

—By famed Southern garden speaker, writer, radio host and personality Felder Rushing, from his book, Maverick Gardeners (University Press of Mississippi)