What does it really mean to have a green thumb? We get people that come into the nursery and sheepishly say, “I don’t have a green thumb at all. I can’t grow anything.” It’s as if they think that the ability to make plants grow well is determined by some magic gene that only certain people have.

This year, especially with so many people at home looking for things to do, we have encountered a lot of people new to gardening. They are testing out their thumbs with their first veggie or butterfly garden. Giving their yard a makeover for the first time.

I’m here to tell new and experienced gardeners alike that a green thumb isn’t magic. You aren’t born with it. A green thumb and a great gardener are created through tons of mistakes made over many years; in a word: experience. It takes making mistakes and learning from them along the way. When you say that your grandmother can grow anything just by looking at it, what you really mean is that her garden experiences have taught her to quickly figure out what a plant needs. You’ll get there too; you just need to build the experience.

“Experience is merely the name men gave to their mistakes.” – Oscar Wilde

Experienced gardeners, those that you envy for their green thumbs, are the ones who have made the most mistakes. They’ve planted plants too deep or forgotten to water, they’ve over-fertilized or tried to plant something that just doesn’t grow in Florida. But instead of giving up, they brush the soil from their hands and try again, changing patterns and habits along the way until gradually their thumbs take on a rich, green hue, just like the plants in their gardens.

So if you don’t feel like your thumb is green, don’t fret. If things this spring didn’t go as planned, you aren’t the only one. Have fun, make some mistakes, and learn from them. Pretty soon, you’ll be the one giving out the gardening advice and people will call you the neighbor with the green thumb.