By PHYLLIS ZORN

Staff writer

It might seem as if better days will never come, but one beloved hobby proves they will.

Avid gardener Elora Robinson is planning for and working on her garden.

She’ll grow flowers and an assortment of vegetables.

Like most people tired of being shut inside because of COVID-19 restrictions, working on her garden makes her feel better and lifts her spirits.

“I haven’t really planted a whole lot yet,” Robinson said. “I need to get to the greenhouses yet.”

She’d rather pick out her own plants than have someone else pick them out and deliver them.

She grows tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers.

“I usually have four or five tomato plants — enough to keep me and my family and some friends in tomatoes,” she said.

She also takes joy in raising flowers.

“I’ve got flower beds all over,” she said. “I’m trying to get some more perennials.”

She grows coneflowers, daisies, daylilies, and rose bushes.

She not only enjoys gardening, she still likes to mow her own grass.

“Some of my friends say I should give it up,” she admits.

She’s getting a slow start this season after being shut in all winter, but she’s been making progress.

She’s put out mulch and rototilled a garden plot so it’s ready for plants to go in.

“I’ve enjoyed being outside when I’ve been cooped up inside this winter when I’ve been sheltering,” she said. “It’s good for your mind and good for your body. It’s good for my table too.”

Robinson said she usually plants her tomatoes in early May, though it might be a little later this year.

“I usually plant celebrities, jet star, and cherry tomatoes,” she said.

Before she can know what she’ll put in this year, she needs to find out what’s still available at the greenhouse.

Her yard is about 100 by 150 feet, and she grows flowers along a privacy fence. Her vegetable plot is about 20 by 30 feet, she said.

“I’d plant more if I had more space,” she said.

Robinson said if people drive by her house at Locust and Hudson Sts. in late June, they can see her garden in full showcase mode.