The first step involved in becoming a gardener is spending time in your landscape. I know it can be difficult if you've spent so much of your life in the comfort of the air-conditioned, bug-free indoors, but trust me, you'll adapt to the outside. It's weird, but I actually crave the sensation of heat and humidity. I missed it when I lived in the Pacific Northwest.
When you immerse yourself in a physical space, like your yard, you'll begin to notice things that you'd otherwise overlook. Take time to dig a hole and examine your soil profile. Examine your pre-existing landscape and plants. Identify what's already there and make a list of what you want to keep or get rid of.
The more time you invest in your landscape, the more at ease you'll feel. And you are more likely to develop a sense of ownership. We are creatures of habit, and if you are like me, the only way you can fully integrate a new passion is to build it into your daily routine. And while we can never fully "own" the land or nature, we have a deep instinctive drive to manipulate our environment.
So, bonding with your landscape is often the biggest hurdle in developing the practice of gardening. Only after you've developed this attachment would I urge you to start buying plants and creating a flower bed. Start small!
For example, my partner and I bought our first house this January, and while I have amassed way too many containers of plants, I've only planted 2 real flower beds. We also started a vegetable garden, which is taking up more and more time. I suggest you do as I say and not as I do. In retrospect, I should have waited to start a vegetable garden, but you live and learn...
Spend time developing the soil! Unless you are blessed with dark, rich, undisturbed soil, like at my mom's 100+ year-old house, you'll have to invest in copious amounts of organic matter. I've been purchasing products like mushroom compost, black cow soil amendments, and soil conditioner. You'll enjoy working in deep, loose, organic-rich soil so much more than our ubiquitous red clay.
I was also wise to get a free dump truckload of chip mulch from chipdrop.com. When this pile starts to break down, which can take all summer, I'll begin to add it to my flower beds. In its "green" or fresh state, mulch like this can draft nitrogen from the soil. So, even though I've used some of the pile as a top dressing, I'll wait to distribute the rest until the microbes can work their magic.
Don't be afraid to make mistakes and forge your own path as a gardener!
Over time, you'll develop your own personal palette of favorite plants. Some people like collecting certain genera, like daffodils or daylily enthusiasts. Or perhaps you love everything and purchase anything that you find beautiful. Whatever your aesthetic, the point is to create something YOU find beautiful.
Whether you prefer orderly, formalistic type gardens or, like me, prefer a more informal, romantic type, create a space that you enjoy being in. Don't just copy what the magazines say, express your individuality.
While on your gardening journey, you will certainly kill a lot of plants, and given time, you will discover species/cultivars that perform well. Many will overtake other plants, and you'll have to either eliminate them or plant them in confined easily controllable situations.
Once you begin your gardening journey, you'll never tire of possibilities and new plants to grow. Our Earth is overflowing with a nearly infinite variety of perennials, annuals, and shrubs. You can spend your whole life learning new plants and barely scratch the surface. With this many options, it's easy to feel overwhelmed, but just know that gardening is a life-long pursuit, and you'll never achieve an end product, a "conclusion." Unlike other artistic creations, a garden is an ever-changing, living, breathing manipulation of nature and will require constant "work" on your part. But the joy is in the doing!
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