(sorry I am so late to this game) Looking through the comments I didn't see this considered: Gardens: Most gardens need constant attention, constant supplementing and maintenance to keep them "pretty" (as defined by the gardeners and gawkers). They need LOADS of sh-t dumped on them at least once, often twice a year to make up for the lack of microorganisms that would exist in a more bio-diverse environment. And they need regular pruning and trimming and shaping to "keep them under control". Nor does one person's idea of the ideal garden match another's--even the same gardener may, on a whim, up and decide to try out say peonies instead of roses one year. I would ask Aaron, do you really wish to use an analogy that shows the poor gardening skills and fickle nature of your chosen deity? As Greta noted: if you wish to use the "mysterious ways", you can't have it both ways. You have to say it's all god (nothing happens in your favor, and nothing is against you, nothing is good and nothing is evil, which basically makes the presence of the Gardener superfluous, because if dandelions take over and choke off the forget-me-nots, then it must have been meant to happen, just as much as the dead spot where the earth was turned over too much and nothing got a chance to root). A last note, the more a garden is maintained, the more it NEEDS to be maintained, directly! the less bio-diverse the landscape, less healthy the supporting ground and the roots structure of most of the plants. Sorry, but God should go back to making clay figurines and leave the gardening to a professional.