365 Squarey Monsters: What’s Growing in Your Spring Garden?

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At last, winter is behind us. With the arrival of spring come warmer temperatures, longer days, and the familiar pull to go back outside. For many of us, that signals a return to the garden.

It also means a lot of hard work ahead. Before flowers or vegetables appear, dead leaves must be raked away, overgrowth pruned, and the ground turned. It's not glamorous, but it makes everything that follows possible.

Along the way to harvest, there will be small signs of progress, such as the first shoots pushing through the soil or bees darting from flower to flower. And there will be setbacks: a stretch of cold weather, a sudden storm, or something nibbling at what you've planted.

Once the garden begins to give back, you'll see the work was part of the reward all along. And you'll realize you were growing more than flowers, vegetables, and fruit.

Planting the seeds of connection

There's a reason gardening is one of the country's most popular hobbies. The act of growing something to eat or enjoy connects us to the earth and the rhythm of Mother Nature. It also has a way of bringing people together.

I saw this firsthand when I was a young social worker at St. John's Home for Boys in Queens. Behind the group home was a patch of ground filled with compacted soil and bits of construction debris. Shortly after I arrived, I loosened the soil with a pitchfork and planted some extra tomato plants from my mother's small garden.

A boy named Norman came home from school, took one look, and laughed. He told me nothing was going to grow there.

Still, I kept at it, doing what I could each day. Over time, the tomatoes began to take hold, and Norman started stopping by after school to check on them. One afternoon, he showed up with a broom handle and some rope so we could prop up the vines.

Somewhere along the way, the garden stopped being mine and became ours.

Working side by side gave us an easy way to talk. That small patch of tomatoes became a bridge between us — and a lesson: with patience, care, and a little faith, even difficult ground can produce something worthwhile.

Life lessons from the garden

Spend enough time in a garden, and you'll start to notice how much gardening mirrors how we live. Nearly every step has a lesson to offer.

Take composting. Gardeners gather what looks like waste — dead leaves, broken stems, flowers past their prime — and set it aside. Over time, they break down and become the soil that nourishes new growth.

We carry a version of this in our minds. Mistakes we've made, missed opportunities, and moments we wish we could take back can feel like endings we'd be better off forgetting. But with time and perspective, they become lessons and a foundation for improvement.

Or consider pruning. Cutting back healthy branches can look harsh, but it allows the plant to grow stronger, to direct its energy where it matters most. In our own lives, there are times when stepping back, letting go, or making a difficult change can serve a similar purpose. What feels like a loss in the moment can create space for something healthier to take root.

And then there's the simplest lesson of all: nothing thrives without care. The same is true of relationships. They need attention in the form of a note, a call, or a small gesture that says you're thinking of them. Without that, even strong connections can fade.

Cultivating what matters

The lessons of the garden are as old as time itself. Gardens have sustained and grounded us for generations, starting with the famous one called Eden.

I see that every spring and summer when my wife, Marylou, shares gardening tasks with our seven grandchildren. She doesn't make a pizza without first taking one of them out to clip fresh herbs and share a story. The ritual matters as much as the meal.

These ideas show up in literature as well. In Voltaire's Candide, after a series of misadventures, the characters find themselves in a garden. The message is simple: rather than trying to fix a chaotic world, focus on what is close at hand — your work, your relationships, and your growth.

At the end of the novel, when the philosopher Pangloss tries to explain it all, Candide replies: "All that is very well, but let us cultivate our garden."

Are you ready to get your hands dirty?

All the best,

As artificial intelligence spreads across industries, entire categories of work are beginning to change — and some roles are disappearing faster than expected.

In this week's Power & Impact, I spoke with Jo McKinney of the Board of Innovation, a firm that works with companies on emerging technologies. She shared a piece of advice she's been giving to people trying to navigate this uncertain moment:

Instead of focusing only on which AI tools to learn, reimagine your profession from scratch. If your field — marketing, law, finance, or something else — were created today with AI already part of the system, how would it work? What tasks would disappear? What would humans do better? What new capabilities might suddenly become possible?

In other words, don't just ask how AI can help you do the same job faster. Ask how the entire job might be reimagined. That shift in thinking may be one of the most valuable skills anyone can develop in the years ahead.

Jo shared several other ideas about how people and companies can prepare for what's coming next. If you're thinking about how AI might affect your own career, I hope you'll take a few minutes to listen to our full conversation.

50 Years In: Still checking in

As 1-800-Flowers.com marks its 50th anniversary, I've found myself thinking less about milestones and more about moments — the human ones that explain why our story is still being written. Here's a story about why I started writing the Celebrations Pulse letter.

Six years ago this week, in the early days of the pandemic, we were all trying to make sense of a world that had suddenly changed. Offices closed, gatherings stopped, and many of us found ourselves separated from the people and routines that grounded us.

Like everyone else, we at 1-800-Flowers.com were asking: How do we stay connected when we can't be together?

At the time, I challenged the team to think differently about how we could reconnect with our customers. The answer was simple: a letter that offered ideas on how to stay connected during difficult times. Instead of focusing on what to sell, we focused on what people might need.

That first note, sent in March 2020, carried a simple subject line: "Checking in to See How You're Doing." The response was immediate. Many told us it was the first email they received from a company that wasn't trying to drive a click or a purchase.

What began as a response to a moment has grown into what you're reading today. Each week, this letter has followed the rhythms of your lives — the celebrations, the challenges, and the in-between moments. Over time, your stories have shaped it into a community.

Thank you for being part of it — and for inspiring what comes next.

Hopping our way toward Easter

With spring now here, Easter is right around the corner, and I've been thinking about all the rituals that are part of the holiday. Growing up, that meant a trip into the city from Queens for the parade, a little shopping with my parents, and then back home for dinner — where the leg of lamb was never complete without a generous serving of mint jelly.

It's funny how these small rituals stay with us, evolve, and are passed across generations. They mark the season, but more importantly, they bring us back to the people we shared them with.

What are your favorite Easter traditions? I'd love to hear them — and we may feature a few in an upcoming Celebrations Pulse. I'll randomly pick five for a special surprise from the 1-800-Flowers.com family of brands.

Sunday, March 22, 2026

What’s Growing in Your Spring Garden?

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