My Way of Living + Things

There is a time, when it clicks in you, and you know that gardening is no longer just something that you are just dabbling in. It has become a passion, for some that is a all consuming passion, they think, live, breathe everything garden. Others have a slightly smaller passion, one that can be bundled up, and put in the closet like a pair of shoes. They don't quickly come to realize how important it is to them, until they are away from it for awhile. And still others never really come to grips with being a gardener, choosing to pretend that it is not that important to them. They only do it socially! They can stop anytime.
Some gardeners are fortunate to have large sprawling gardens, and others only have a tomato plant on a window sill. They all garden, and each one is a gardener. Although I had always played with plantings and gardening, it was when I visited New Zealand for a extended stay while I was in my 20's, that it really hit me. The friends I stayed with were avid hikers, up mountains, and down ravines. Sloshing down a stream bed one day I came across a hardy fuchsia, growing in the shade, it was Fuschia ricardii. With the brilliant red blossoms covering the bush so densely that you could barely see the green leaves. It piqued my curiosity. I could not believe that something so beautiful, could grow wild uncultivated. Back home in Canada, those were considered annuals. I still clearly remember that plant, and how amazed I was at it growing in the wild.
It started me on a journey, and at that point I knew that I was truly a gardener.
When did it happen to you? Do you consider yourself a gardener? Or are you just a little shy to admit to loving plants? Do you have a consuming need to grow anything that you can buy, graft, seed, or make cuttings from. Do your needs outgrow your space? Let me know.