Gather ye flowers, while ye may... I remember when we first bought our house and the yard was a huge canvas full of possibilities. I wanted to fill it with every possible plant, and there have been as many failures as there have successes in terms of my Green Thumb. It's taken many years, and I don't always baby the yard with the attention it needs, but I'm thankful so many plants have accepted my Neglectful Gardening method and continue to flourish from year to year.

I'm falling in love with the Fine Art of Doing Nothing. I wouldn't call it being lazy -- you're still doing things like having backyard barbecues, sitting around with a cocktail in hand on a hot day, and just taking a moment to soak in the Nothingness. And it can be in your yard or someone else's, as we've been yard-hopping all summer at friends' houses.