If you're a gardener, your favorite season has now arrived! It's time to watch the plants grow and reap the rewards. The following are some of the gardener's experiences:

1. The hours spent planning as the weather gets warmer.

Did it get above freezing today? That means spring is on its way. Time to draw some diagrams, organize seed packets, and plot out when you'll hit the greenhouses. Never mind that spring is still three months out.

2. When you put the compost in and the weeds get to the nutrients before your plants do.

You spent hours turning the soil over, making sure everything was just right for your beloved plants, and then the weeds arrived, uninvited. How dare they? This is a strictly no-weeds zone. For goodness sake, they have the rest of the lawn all to themselves!

3. Walking through your garden in the morning, cup of tea in hand, seeing what's sprouted overnight.

There are the little tomatoes! And there are the little broccolis! And there are the little zucchinis! Your plant children have arrived.

4. That sense of accomplishment when you solve your plants' problems.

You may not be able to resolve any of this world's other problems, but you figured out that your plants need more water. It's enough for you to see their happy little leaves stretching for the sky and to know that you're the one to thank for it.

5. The intensive detective work you take on when your plants start vanishing.

Was it a rabbit? No holes in the fence. Was it a deer? No hoof prints in the dirt. It must have been....THE SLUGS. On which note...

6. The ongoing war against slugs.

You hate the little gluttons. They can strip a whole plant overnight. When you tried that beer-slug-trap, all you got was a lot of drunk, happy slugs. The battle continues.

7. The knowledge that your nails will have dirt under them for the entire summer.

And you're not even bothered.

8. When butterflies visit.

They're like little flying flowers, and they're here to visit you! You and your plants, that is.

9. Being in the "Gardening Zone".

You're in your garden, surrounded by growing things, and you're at peace. This is your happy place.

10. When your weirdest new plants are ready to harvest, and now you have to figure out what to do with them.

Purple parsley? White eggplants? Rainbow tomatoes? Nothing tastes quite like you expect it to, but it's an adventure all the same.