My favorite thing about Iowa gardening is the soil. Having seen hard clay, sandy soil, and rocky soil in other parts of the country, I've realized how much I value digging in fertile loam. I could've move from Iowa without taking truckloads of it with me!

Next?

It feels so good on my fingers, and stays loose and workable all summer (if I don't tromp on it). It's a nice color, too.

My two daughters both garden - one in Portland OR and the other in far northern New York, and both of them have soil that's full of stones and gets hard as a rock in late summer. Portland battles summer drought, and New York has a shorter growing season and no depth to the soil at all - rock ledges just below the surface. I'll take Iowa every time!

Living in a newer sub-division, all the top soil here was stripped off before building the house so I don't have the wonderful loam soil that many of you have - which is a huge bummer. But even with my soil being heavily clay, at least it isn't full of rocks and can be amended!

After living in So. CA where it didn't rain for 4 months, I have to say my favorite thing about gardening in IA is the rain! Although the drip system I had was convienent, I still love the rain and what it does for my flowers and perrennials. Now, let's pray that we don't have a drought this year (and no floods either!).