About garden scribe Bonnie Blodgett

Known for: The Garden Letter (www.gardenletter.com), her award-winning garden newsletter; "Blundering Gardener" blog and how-to videos; author of four books, including her latest, "Remembering Smell."

Family: Husband, Cam (whom she met in high school); adult daughters Alex and Caroline.

Home base: One of the oldest houses (1880) in St. Paul's Crocus Hill neighborhood. It was built for her great grandfather, and Blodgett acquired it after her grandmother died in 1989. At the time, "We didn't want it -- it had rats in the basement, squirrels in the attic, and water everywhere -- but we felt obligated to keep it in the family."

Garden profile: There wasn't one when Blodgett moved in -- just an ice rink in the back yard and grass in front, which is where she started. "People thought I was insane," she recalled. "Nobody was digging up their front yards then." She's never had a plan; she prefers "garden improv."

Quirkiest thing in her garden: An orange plastic bag tied around the loins of a cast-iron statue. "I call it his Speedo," Blodgett said. "It holds him together. He fell over and broke."

Garden scents she missed most: Her Pope John Paul II rose, a white, highly fragrant hybrid tea. She buries it every fall. "It's worth it. I wouldn't do it for any other rose." And her Clematis recta 'Purpurea' shrub. "It's not as classic-smelling as a rose, but it's my favorite smelly plant."

True confessions: Blodgett is a compulsive home-improver. "I can't keep my hands off the world I'm living in," she said. "I'm a workaholic. I wish I was able to relax but I can't." (Latest project: Painting a checkerboard pattern on her oak kitchen floor. She re-stained the wood but decided it looked too red, so she added white squares to break it up.)

Garden wisdom: "As we get older, we become better gardeners. You just have to do it. By the time you know what you're doing, you're old."

KIM PALMER