Well, it shouldn’t be too long now before I’m spending a warm afternoon in the backyard planting flowers while Max sits there beside me wondering what in the world I’m doing, playing in the dirt. That’s supposed to be his job, after all.

This will be the 4th or 5th year of “green thumbing” it for me. Before that, I had never planted anything, and now I can’t wait to get out there.

There is a seasonal greenhouse that pops up every spring at 7th and Lewvan. It’s being set up now and it won’t be long before it’s open for business. The guy who owns it is from Saskatchewan, but lives in Thailand and sets up shop in Saskatoon and Regina every year.

Although I’m not the novice I was years ago, I still don’t have a real grip on everything when it comes to the different types of plants and exactly what it is that each one needs. I just tell the guy, “Give me some plants that are colourful and need sunshine.” Basically, give me some flowers any idiot can grow and I’ll take it from there. He has me set up with a 3 or 4 boxes of flowers within 10 minutes, but it never seems to be enough. I usually end up going back to see him a couple more times after that.

I remember growing up, my mom would have flowers everywhere. She still does. We’d be playing street hockey and the ball would go into one of my mom’s flowerbeds. Next thing I know she’d be at the front door yelling, “James Lewis, get out of my flowerbed.” I used to cringe whenever I heard the name James!After that I’d have to warn my buddies about being a little more careful with their shots.

I find myself doing the same thing today, except, instead of an errant tennis ball, it’s a Goldendoodle named Max.

“Max, get out of my flowerbed,” is a phrase that will reverberate through our yard all summer long.