Did you dream all winter about how lovely your garden was going to be this spring and summer? All the pretty flowers, the perfect vegetables, the song birds singing.

I sure did. I always do! There’s something about winter and snow and cold to give a gardener illusions (delusions?) of how in the spring their garden will once and for all become the very definition of perfection. It will be a paradise of your own making.

And then Mother Nature reminds you…

There are going to be some weeds and oh, by the way, the rabbits still need to eat.

In this case, the weed is wood sorrel, an Oxalis, that also goes by the common name sourgrass. Though edible, that second common name explains why I’m not likely to eat it, and why the rabbits ate the crocus leaves instead.

At least the crocuses were allowed to flower first.

So once again, Mother Nature has reminded me that if I am seeking perfection (defined partially as weed-free and rabbit-free) I won’t find it in my garden, my paradise.

It’s good to get that reminder out of the way early, isn’t it? It’s actually liberating. Freeing! I can carry on now, looking past the weeds and plants chewed down to nubbins. Now I can experiment more, plant more, and otherwise take a few more chances in the garden because it isn’t going to be perfect. Whew. I’m almost, almost, grateful for the weeds and the rabbits, for this early (and annual) reminder from Mother Nature.

Of course, now that I am reminded of all of this once again, I need to grub out that wood sorrel and several other springtime weeds like henbit and chickweed. Then I’ll remind the rabbits that the clover and dandelions are coming up in the back lawn, and they may eat as many of those weeds as they’d like. Eat until you can eat no more, rabbits!

By the way, if you are one of those people who really do want perfection all around you, you probably should do something else other than gardening. A desire for perfection will do nothing but steal the joy, happiness, and delight you can get from a garden, even a garden—especially a garden—with weeds and rabbits.

So thank you for the reminder, Mother Nature. My illusions of a perfect garden have been readjusted to include weeds and wildlife. My joy in gardening has been saved once again.