Does anyone else feel behind in the garden chores department? I swear that just yesterday I was looking down the items left on my spring to-do list and thought, “How is this possible? There’s still so much left to do.” I’ve finished all my pruning, dividing, relocating, and removals. But there are still clumps of leaves stuck between plants in all of my beds, holes still need to be filled with replacements, and that small retaining wall along the back hill still isn’t built. I did run the string line for it, though, so that counts, right?

Spring holds so much promise for a new year of gardening. But my hopefulness quickly turns to feelings of being overwhelmed. I try to take it in stride and tell myself that Rome wasn’t built in a day. But I really do always aspire to getting the “work” done by July 4 so I can actually sit on my patio and enjoy the garden. This will never happen, of course, but a girl can dream.

As I read through the collection of new articles from our regional reporters below, I felt reenergized—and like I may not be all that far behind. Folks are still pruning clematis in the Mid-Atlantic, picking out lilacs in the Northeast to plant, and visiting public gardens for inspiration in the Southeast. Spring has just begun—it’s not almost over. There’s plenty of time left to do all the chores and still make that July relax-with-a-margarita-on-the-patio deadline. Or, knowing me, add 15 more projects to the list and then fret about not accomplishing them all by the time the snowflakes fly once again.

As a gardener, is there any other way?

—Danielle Sherry, executive editor