When it comes to gardening, I always start out the year with good intentions.

Seed catalogs offer such enticing possibilities, I begin to envision landscaping around my house that rivals the most gorgeous Japanese garden or Thomas Kinkade painting.

As soon as the first shoots appear in the spring, I visit the nurseries, where I encounter flat after flat of seedlings that all seem to shout in unison: “Take me home! Take me home!”

Once I get a carload of them home, my eyes widen as I realize I actually need to find a place for each one. Oh my.

I tell myself, “God’s work, my hands,” get down on my hands and knees, and start digging in the dirt.

Then the @#$#@ weeds arrive! I belong to several local Facebook gardening groups, and we’re forever sharing tips on how to outsmart those little suckers. None of us ever quite succeeds, but that doesn’t stop us from trying, even those of us committed to not using chemicals in our yards.

But when I gaze upon all my lovely flower beds on a summer morning or slice up that first vine-ripened tomato for lunch, that’s when I decide the results are well worth all the hours of toil.

One could say my relationship with gardening resembles my love-hate relationship with writing. The process may be agonizing, but when I’m finished with a plot, I love having done it.

So to all my fellow gardeners, here is a baker’s dozen of my favorite gardening memes.