The Legend of the Rainforest Gardener

Since I just updated the bio on my 'about' page, I thought I'd share how I got into gardening in the first place... in third person narrative.  Another garden writer mentioned that writing in the third person was a great way to get around the terrifying chore of talking about yourself, and it was a bit more fun to boot. Oh, and I added some 'critic' reviews at the end too, just so you can fully appreciate my awesomeness. (That should really be a word.)
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I've also fired up the old scanner and shared some photos from my life including one or two of me being an incredibly dorky kid!  Now that's entertainment!

Biography

Kayaking in Michigan as a kid.

Steve Asbell is a garden writer from Jacksonville, Florida with a tendency to talk about himself in third person narrative.  So begins the legend of Steve:

A nature lover since childhood, Steve was destined to be a great garden writer from the beginning. In preschool he once spat in the class tadpole tank to "provide algae for the tadpoles to eat", and was promptly sent home by a horrified teacher. His courtship with nature continued in the playground, where Steve dodged baseballs and soccer balls while observing flowers and butterflies on his belly.

Still a kid, checking out the geese.

When relocated to the Mojave desert along with his military family, Steve was content to chase lizards all day, returning home to read Ranger Rick magazine with his pet horned lizards and green anole by his side.  It was around that time that our hero embarked on a field trip and found the tropical gardens at the San Diego Zoo, where he brought home a toy gecko (which he sagely named "Balboa" after the park) along with an undying fascination with the rainforest.  The seeds of The Rainforest Garden were planted, though they weren't to germinate for many years.

Camping with my soulmate!

Moving forward a decade, Asbell met Jennifer, the love of his life.  Together they went on excursions into Florida's remaining wild areas such as the Fakahatchee Strand, and nature became entwined in their growing romance for better or worse.  They went camping and kayaking together, visited sea turtle rescues, and he would also drag her along on endless hikes.  Steve was also going to school to be a graphic designer, and his future was all but set in stone.

 

An illustration showing the love of Steve's life with the love of her life.

An original photo by your favorite blogger, painted by his mom.

However, this career was not to be.  Steve's limited funds forced him to reconsider his career path, leaving him in retail for the foreseeable future.  Around the same time, his mother Nancy Asbell had become confined to a wheelchair, as a result of Lupus and a broken back that left her unable to leave the house.  She was told that she'd never walk again, and wasn't expected to live for much longer.

This blow was dealt shortly after a trip to south Florida, where Steve was able to enjoy nature with his mom one more time and photograph her standing beneath a massive banyan tree.  Steve sought out to give his mom a gift that would remind her of the fun they had on that last trip to south Florida.  "Why not plant a garden for her to enjoy from the window?" Steve pondered. The Rainforest Garden was born. 

The garden in its first year

Little did Steve know that the gift he gave his mother was fast becoming his life calling!  What started out as a few plants along the fence, morphed into a full fledged obsession.  Nothing had ever invigorated our author like this before, and two dimensional designs and illustrations seemed quaint compared to the miniature jungle world that he set out to carve from a suburban yard.  Design, writing, photography and gardening merged together to form The Rainforest Garden blog, which soon became the ultimate creative outlet as well as a second full time job.  An extremely satisfying and fun second job.

Every week, Steve makes the forty minute drive from his apartment to "The Rainforest Garden" at his parent's place.  He's also packed his own balcony full of tropical plants, and uses it as a staging area to start new plants that will eventually be planted across the St. Johns river, in his parent's garden.

Nancy Asbell still sells her landscape paintings at galleries, and is also slated to record a track for a lupus benefit album alongside Rob Thomas of Matchbox 20, Julian Lennon and others.

Steve's mom is now walking, in utter defiance of even the best doctor's predictions.  For short periods at a time, she can now step into the garden that she once only saw from the patio.  Check out her art at Fine Art America and follow her blog at http://nancyasbellarts.blogspot.com/

One of Nancy Asbell's Florida landscape paintings.

Accolades

Steve has won many awards, none of which reflect his writing skills in the least.  Mr. Asbell won a few awards in a community college art show, recently won some giveaways online, and once found a hundred dollars in a parking lot which he promptly wasted on a game boy.  The other day he won a dollar on a lottery scratch-off ticket. He then spent it on another lottery ticket and lost.


Here's what (real) critics have to say:

That is why your garden and 'collection' look like a hotel/motel entrance, only the flamingos are missing: Nursery shopping. - Antigonum Cajan, a respected blogger

Good info but so lacking in good photography... More (and better) pics please,this is a VISUAL medium:) - Constructive criticism from Lila, a commenter on a guest post at Life on the Balcony. (Joking aside, I really appreciated this advice... thanks Lila.)

Your blog sucks and I hate your stupid face. - Steve Asbell. (I am my own worst critic.)

I hope you've enjoyed my tongue in cheek bio! A shorter version without photos has been added to my 'about' page.
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