Gardening: Is it LIKE Money?

The comments on the previous post got me thinking about how the experience of gardening is a lot like looking after one's finances.
You want your money to grow. You work at it over time, with big investments occasionally, and lots of minor maintenance on a regular basis. You can't exactly see it growing before your eyes, but every so often you suddenly realize that you've made tangible progress. Sometimes factors you can't control will set you back, and sometimes you make mistakes that prevent growth. The more money you have, the easier it is to take a little piece of it to "plant" in an investment that will grow you even more money. Your eventual goal is a kind of harvest, be it something to be enjoyed for its beauty alone, or something that satisfies a basic need like hunger. The process is just as important as the end results-- if you can enjoy and learn from the daily work, you're much more likely to succeed. But if you think you can just have a lush, gorgeous garden without putting a lot of effort into it, you'll be sorely disappointed. Achieving financial security works the same way.