Hi, I'm new to this group since moving to the country. Our land is "across the road" from lakefront property. I'm situated in Ontario Canada, just 40 minutes north of Kingston. Part of old farm. I adore cottage gardening and I'm doing this sort of thing around my home (barren land around the house, but immediate small hillside drop across drive.

I love growing plants from seeds, creating gardens and changing them as they grow. This is the first time I'm having the opportunity to put some local "native" stars...wild native Ontario plants. So far I'm going to be working on moving wild pink roses (small thorny bushes), white anemones, columbine (it's yellow center with reddish orange long outer petals) and a small low spreading juniper shrub. There are fields with the standard goldenrod, wild daisies, light purple/lavender bee balm but I like those in the fields to enjoy. I also grew strawberry plants from seeds of a strawberry I ate about 4 years ago - moved them with me and they are producing their first strawberries this year. There's lots of wild berries around here to.

I'm not working, no kids just a spoiled tuxedo cat called Andy. DH is semi-retired. I made sure he got a workshop for his woodworking. I get the spare room for my crafts and seed starting in the winter. Our house faces south on purpose with big windows.

I used to frequent the Kitchen Table a lot but now just concentrate on the gardening side of things. I'm all over the garden forums - very nosy to see what's going on out there.

I also made a custom google news section available for anyone interested called "Gardening" by "Queensharbot". So far there are 17 followers. It's any/all news items I can find for gardening. Another good custom news from someone else I like is "Garden Design".

Right now I live, breathe, sleep garden.

I'd like to get back to quilting - UFOs are still in boxes and making craft jewelry.

Still under 50 and loving life.

The other forum I frequent is the Diet forum. I've reached my goal weight and now I'm in maintenance.

Kathy well done on 3 years! Keep on going and never give up! I only know a few friends who have gone through this and they are all past their 5 year mark with flying colours. Not easy but they live life more than I do and I'm taking lessons from them every day. May God Bless you and all fighting that horrid disease.

So that's me for now.
Glad to read the posts,

Cheers,
Peggy

I cruise through on the weekends (to TRY to solve the trivia questions). The photos of the gardens are still gorgeous and a source of inspiration.
Jim

I love this forum. Everyone is so friendly and encouraging. None of my friends are gardeners so it's great to have this group of gardeners who are so dedicated to the hobby and have such a love for it. Almost every day when I come home from work I eventually hop onto the cottage forum to see what's up and it helps me wind down from the day.

I have about 2 acres in NH and have been taking a phased approach with the yard. I'm on phase 3 now (the backyard) and phase 4 will be my hidden English Garden (well, that's if my viburnums would cooperate and start growing!)

It's fun to always look forward to new designs and plans for the future gardens. I'm in my 40s, so I hope to have all the gardens in over the next 10 years or so. By then I'll be ready to sit back a bit and wonder how I ever thought I could possibly maintain that much garden! LOL!

I have an incredible husband who is so supportive of the garden (my obsession) and helps whenever I need it. Our son is 11 and a couple years ago was diagnosed with a pretty rare genetic disorder. Only about 200 kids worldwide have been diagnosed with it so there's just not a lot to go on. Nothing life-threatening thank goodness, just lots of motor and speech delays, some medical stuff and needs a lot of help. We have the stresses of working on how to manage him probably never being able to live independently, a lot of medical/therapy issues, etc. and we are always staying on top of diet, supplements and out of the box therapies that may help. So far, so good but there's a lot of angst and worry that goes along with it. He is just the sweetest kid and works his butt off with his therapies and schoolwork. Everything is hard for him but he just plugs along. He never ceases to amaze me.

Gardening is such a needed therapy for me. I get so much joy out of it and it is many times my alone time.

Still here and have been since 2003.
I have 3 sons, 5 grands and 1 great grandson.
you'll have to suffer through another picture. He is doing his Jack Benney impression.

{{gwi:606023}}

I have been a widow since July 2004. My best friend, also a widow, lives with me. Between us we have 4 dogs and a cat.

Kathy

I'm new here and started popping in mostly to see what Kathy/Plantmaven is up to in her garden since meeting her at a plant swap a while back. I live in San Antonio also and have been retired for three years.

My landscape is the opposite of cottage style with cacti, succulents and gravel by the ton. Plenty of Kathy's favorite red too! The few flowering plants are limited to salvias and other xeric type plants.

I really enjoy all the pictures and stories of your gardens. The cottage style is growing on me quite literally since I started filling a new bed this spring with flowering plants only to have disaster strike in the form of drought and excessive heat. It'll probably be fall before I can get decent pictures of it now.

Hello from another newbie!

I live in Bothell, WA which is just outside Seattle. 2 years ago I got divorced and kicked out of my house, and have only recently been able to afford one of my own again. I work full time and have a young daughter, so gardening for me is when I can squeeze in the time. I love having more than just a patio of containers to work with! Gardening is what keeps me sane.

My boyfriend and my friends are all sick of me talking about plants, so I come here when I'm in need of company with people who enjoy gardening as much as I do. Apparently nobody my age things gardening is cool...

What fun! I think i joined GW in 2009...
my name is Jen ,age 27. and i live in pittsburgh with my dh. We have 2 dogs, pug and a bulldog and 2 cockatiels. We have a koi pond my dh built himself. Im going back to school in the fall to be an elementary school teacher, it was always my dream and now im going for it! Im really excited about that.
Right now i work at a winery which is super fun , and perfect for me because i also really love wine.
ive loved gardening since i was little. My mom taught me some things but most importantly i learned from her that gardening is such a state of peace and solitude! At least it is for me.

Someday (after i graduate) dh and i want to move to north or south Carolina. There i will have the biggest garden i can afford, till then i will enjoy my little garden here! Im very grateful for the garden i have now. I love love love to talk about plants, and i also come here because my dh couldnt care less! tho he pretends! :)

Well Hi! I have been here in some form or other since about 2004/5. I am on my 3rd garden since then - always cottage style, though the current one will not be too elaborate since it is on rented ground. I have gotten into heritage seeds for my veg garden bit, and love the results that I get. Single, no kids, 2 very spoiled cat rescues. I enjoy my time with my 'imaginary' friends. You have have all been a touchstone for me in the past few months!!!

Nancy.

Hi, :) I'm newer to the Cottage Garden forum, but have been hanging out on the Daylily forum for a year and a half. I live in NYC, and miraculously obtained an apt. space with a large.concrete patio and ten by ten foot garden that was weeds and rocks. I've spent the last 9 year's birthday and tutoring money to buy plants and containers (and dirt) to create a garden and am really enjoying it. I have kids who love to be out (basically digging up dirt and making mud restaurants) but I'm grateful for the green we have.
:)
I'm trying to diversify from my daylily obsession to a much wider variety of perennials so love to check out the photos in Cottage Garden.

I am still here too, since 2001 or there about. I didn't post anything for a very long time but would check in and see what was happening with the cottage forum. I have moved multiple times since I first joined, usually about the time my gardens started really taking off! I have been a gardener (fanatic some have said over the years) for most of my life. My great aunt Elsie had the most wonderful gardens and hanging pots all over her tiny yard and tiny house on the banks of a river in northern Minnesota. On the way to grama's house I would detour over to Aunt Elsies and she always was so patient and kind to a shy little girl that thought her flowers were almost as colorful as her great auntie! She has been dead for many years now but I still think of her almost everyday especially when I am gardening. I try to pass on her passion for gardening and her patience and attentiveness to a childs heart to every child that wanders into my gardens.
Faith

I'm still here and loving it! I think since around 2003 or 2004! Time flies! I live in Levittown PA and love the informal cottage garden style. I am going to retire this year..only 3 more days of school! I am so excited to think I will have more time to do all the things that I love. Gardening, Genealogy, reading, cooking! I am also signing up for the Volunteer orientation at the Red Cross and am excited to be able to volunteer now that I will have more time! I browse through many of the Garden web forums and have learned so much over the years from all the posters. It's been wonderful!
PS the groundhogs I took my name from are still living in the creek behind my house!
Joann

Hi! I have been on GW since July 2005...moved from So. California to Pahrump, Nevada to Chino Valley, Az in August of 2008! What a huge difference in gardening that was! But I learned how to garden in Nevada and again here...it was a lot of mistakes and learning. I have two cottage garden beds in front of my house out here in the high desert. I've had people tell me that it couldn't be done but I read books/magazines on how to do it properly...chose my plants with care and it is quite beautiful going on my 3rd year here! I am expanding garden beds here and there...I have an acre to play with (haha).....it is very challenging but I love it. I love reading about others gardens here and especially LOVE the photos from you guys here.

Beca

I am a relative newbie, too. Joined in June, 2009. I love the gardens AND the gardeners on this forum! I don't have enough sun for a true cottage garden and the galoping gardeners have turned the backyard gardens into a wasteland with their running, wrestling, digging, so I live vicariously through all of you and your incredible gardens.

I live in the DC area (Alexandria, VA) with DH and two rescued pups. They are a mother-son tag team-part border collie and who knows what else. Annabelle looks like a miniature Newfoundland and Clouseau has a Golden's face, but more shepherd-like markings. They are the joys of our lives now that we are empty nesters. DS is 31 and often drops off his dog to join the mongrel horde here-then it is really wild!

I am a special education teacher and would love to be retired, but started teaching late (I am 59 now), so barring winning the lottery (which is unlikely since I never buy tickets-ha), I have a few more years to go. I find it especially irksome now that DH is retired. Quite unfair!

I am with Nancy-all you imaginary friends help keep me sane and inspired! I mean really, where else could I go to see such cuties like Kathy's wee one above. That is a marvelous shot-I laughed out loud he is so cute!

I am so glad to have all of you in my life!

Cynthia

Kathy, that's a great impression! Too funny!

I've been around GW since 2001. Started on the tomato and veggie forums and then found the cooking forum. When we started talking about remodeling the kitchen and adding on I discovered the kitchen and bath forums. Somewhere along the line I found the cottage forum and really enjoy my visits here. I've gained new knowledge from many of you and love giving it real life trials.

I've been living in the south all of my adult life, but grew up in northern Indiana. Used to love our yearly visits home ... usually in the fall. Dh is from the Boston area and we've been together for almost 34 years. Never had kids, but we've always shared our lives with a couple felines. We're all tired of the heat & humidity down here, (kitties have no interest in going on the screened porch unless it's very early morning or after sunset) but I'm afraid this is home. Thank God for a/c!

I am here. Still enjoying every minute I spend with my fellow Cottage Gardeners. I can't say how wonderful it is to assosiate with such a caring, fun, and informative group. I've tried, but can't get away from my daily dose of this forum, LOL.
CMK (Christin)

I've been enjoying your posts at GW since 2009. My DH and I had a dairy for 25yrs. 1 hr. south of Reno, then retired and moved to No. east Nevada on a 4000 ac. beef and grass ranch. It has been a BIG change for both of us! Some of the bigger changes for me gardening has been moving from a zone 5 to a zone 3/4, having a short growing season and clay soil. At the dairy I had unlimited compost made from the dairy cows and boy do I miss that great stuff! Our new home and garden area is about 1/2ac. I'm trying for the cottage style with deer resistance plants. We have 2 border collies, 3 horses, 1 retired Holstein cow, a herd of Angus cattle and 2 grown kids with 1 bulldog and 2 golden retriever grandpups. I really enjoy reading and looking at the pics everyone posts on this forum. You all have kept me inspired durning our loooong winters! Just had a cold morning 2 days ago with 30*F. I dont think my honeydew plants will be bouncing back from that cold! I'm new to the internet and with no kids at home to help me I havent figured out how to post pics yet. So keep posting your garden & grandkid pics. I love looking at them! Valree

Good to read about what's happening with everyone! I'm not here as often as I used to be, but I check the topics now and then,

It's been a very busy spring and summer. My son is getting married in October-- to a wonderful young lady! We're thrilled for the couple.

A garden blogger from Texas came to see my garden last Saturday. We met/entertained parents of the bride...they are from Spokane.

On Monday, a garden blogger from Seattle is stopping by.

The deer resistant garden is doing fine as far as deer not eating it are concerned. However, they love living in it now that it's mature and provides cover! There's even a fawn living beneath my pineapple sage during the day while her momma doe is out foraging. Momma doe is sleeping beneath the osmanthus at night!

The cottage garden is doing well, but I lost all of my dianthus last summer when we had 90 days over 90 degrees with little rain. I took the opportunity to rearrange some things and now need to give it time to fill in again.

We created a gravel garden out of our guest parking off the driveway and two garden beds...all mulched with gravel. That's a big success and we're so happy with it.

Cameron

Here is a link that might be useful: Still blogging about my garden

morning! :) I joined GW in '07 so that I could participate in a plant swap in my area, which was posted on the Canadian garden exchange forum. I live in SW Ontario, Canada. I visit the cottage garden forum most days and like to try to figure out the weekend trivia questions, but don't usually post unless I have some sort of vague clue (which isn't a lot it seems!)
I have two kids and seven grandchildren; four girls and three boys ranging in age from 20 months to 15 years. two of the girls aged 10 and 15, live with us, along with our two greyhound girls, Scarlet and Kizzy.
DH retired two yrs ago and me last August, and it is true! you are busier after you retire!
trying this year to recover a couple of gardens that got badly neglected for the last couple of years due to work/an ill MIL/no time and just plain exhaustion. LOL!
also going to 'finally' get my kitchen remodelled this year!! (starting the end of July, I think :))
hoping next year to have the pool filled in, which should give me even more room for flowers! (yay!)

I am mostly a lurker here, but I so enjoy my visits. I love to garden, it is the best stress buster I know. I am 61, married for 42 years to someone that allows me to pursue this dream garden that floats in my head. I work in an office with no windows but I often check in here at lunch and then head for the garden as soon as I get home.

Since DH has retired he works with me in the garden quite a bit. I am always looking for new ideas of plant combinations and the pictures that you post here are always an inspiration.

Sue

Hi, I am roseberri, and I have been around a couple years mostly on the rose forums at first. I don't always post, but usually look in every other day or so. I have a large yard of almost 6 acres in Central OH. I am Married and haven't worked for pay since my children were born! They are now grown up;three girls, the youngest still in college so at home off and on. I have always loved to garden and especially love the cottage garden style with lots of roses( 57) Love also to read, sew, paint, craft etc. Also have a large vegetable garden.Love to see all your gardens and hear your ideas. Hope to get better at posting pictures with my new computer so you can see my gardens.

roseberri

Found Garden Web in early 2010 after participating in the Redmond, WA Green Elephant free plant swap in Nov. '09. I usually start reading on the NW Gardening Forum as I hope to learn more about gardening in my neck of the woods (literally living in a small clearing in the forest), but end up on the Cottage Forum for a good dose of common flower sense & beautiful pics that inspire me to keep on creating lovely spaces to enjoy even if the deer eat some of them. For years I only grew what the deer didn't eat, but began to grow what I wanted anyway attempting to thwart them. Swinging back again to either use electric fence or only grow deer resistant plants as I weep too much over my fruit trees & berries as well as vegetables. I plant one for them & 2 for me, but it still bothers me when they nibble around and their feet tromp through plants.

Been gardening since that 1st summer as newlyweds when we moved to a Christian camp and have built various gardens in 3 different homes we've resided in here at camp. Work, raising kids, and volunteering at camp & in my community kept me too practical to indulge in the beauty of gardening that I do now, though we planted fruit trees & strawberries, kept a vegetable garden for harvesting summer & fall, and had bedding plants in containers & baskets for summer & fall color. After a life changing sudden illness turned chronic forced me to rest I had discovered through my public library collection Square Foot Gardening & Joy Larkum's book, Creative Vegetable Gardening. Now, combining those 2 methods to still be able enjoy beautiful gardening with physical limitations. I do try to build great soil, plant in the right place, mulch, & water until established to be what garden writer Marianne Binetti calls a lazy gardener. Low maintenance seems a mystery, but what manages to survive & grow well must be low maintenance I guess. Plant swaps have added hundreds of new cultivars absolutely free and I've learned to propagate them so that I don't have onesies everywhere. The prolific ones are easy to keep passing on. I still manage to purchase plants here & there especially shrubs.

We celebrate our 25th anniversary this December, have a married daughter, & a teen son. As I enter this new season of life gardening keeps me grounded. (no pun intended) My hubby & son love taking photos of the gardens, which pleases me because I can look at them all winter long as well.

I have a frequently visiting 6 year old great-niece as a garden companion who reminds me to include fun in the garden or "That's too much work, Aunt Corrine". Thanks to her imagination we have a few things around to delight such as a small toy fox in the ancient concrete bird bath and various animal statures peeking out here & there along with a fairy container garden. We've played a little game hiding various small animal planters such as a goldfish, rabbit & a hippo amongst the vegetables or flowers for the other one to find either that day or later. As you might recall a child doesn't spend too much time in any one place, so the rabbit is quickly forgotten when a butterfly flutters past.

Just today while having our extended family over for a Father's Day BBQ she discovered the pink kitten planter hidden in the backyard under the Astrantia next to the patio. She thinks she left it on the window sill, but I thought we put it there during her spring break in April to collect the rain. Who cares who's right! Her giggle & delight with finding the kitten reminded me all over again about rewards of gardening.

Instead of being overwhelmed by chronic illness I have my gardens encourage me each new day whether from inside looking out or on better days walking in the gardens to discover new blooms, birds, insects, and critter footprints left behind. If you lose heart for whatever reason, borrow a childlike spirit, sit in the garden, & watch what happens next. You'll cheer up soon!

Hi Corrine, Loved your story, and the games you play in your garden with the children, what a great idea!

Love hearing everyone's stories!

I've been around this MB a few years, am retired and live on a large acreage in the hinterland of BC which is Canada's most western province. I've always loved gardening and cottage style gardens and homes.

This year gardening is a challenge with too much rain and cool temps so everything except the weeds is slow growing and blooming and there are many days I can't garden because it's too wet. The mosquitoes are rampant! My zone is Canadian 3 which limits what I can grow but there are a lot of plants that do well here. The deer and marmots are always a problem but I'm not letting them win! LOL

Love seeing everyone's pics and I'll try to take more in between the raindrops and eventually post!

For anyone wondering how to post pics here there is "some info here" altho I find posting pics from my computer to "Photobucket" the easiest. To post a pic that is on your Photobucket site you just run your cursor over the chosen pic, click on the HTML code and it will copy, then paste that in your post. Check it when you preview your message and you should see the pic. Photobucket is a good place to store photos also and you can keep it private if you wish. Another way to post pics is to use "tinypic" Easy if you just follow the directions. Just ask if you need more help, we all like seeing pics so will help anyone who needs it.

I keep my garden pics on a Shutterfly site as well in case anyone is interested in seeing them. Haven't updated pics yet this year.

Here is a link that might be useful: my garden

Hi All,

I've been garden webbing since .. ohh around 1999 although there was a time I left and then returned.

I'm under 50. I gravitated towards cottage gardening although I have dabbled with other forms of gardening. Gardening has been a mainstay hobby of mine since i was a child. Even my aquarium is for underwater gardening. The fish are the decorations. I basically like unconventional forms of gardening.

I do have other hobbies and that includes quilting, lately knitting. I do baking and experiment in gourmet cooking. I however prefer to be outdoors in warm weather and so I have been walking a lot, hoping to be able to join a half marathon. I love nature and do long walks if i can. I have a child who is equally into gardening.

Five years ago I bought a cottage in the country. I live in New York City during the week, but garden in the Litchfield Hills of CT on the weekends. I found Gardenweb then, because the house needed so much fixing. But the Garden forums were the siren song -- and have proved an inspiration and treasure trove of ideas. I'm still working, but I look forward to the time I can retire and spend more time gardening. I think about it all the time when I'm away, and live vicariously through all of you on Gardenweb.

The old lady who owned the house had let the gardens fall into disrepair, but the bones were there. So I've just kept adding, enlarging, starting whole new beds and borders, making them more cottage-y, and filling in with shrubs and lots of roses. I can mow the lawn in about an hour -- if I hurry -- my goal is to reduce the lawn to mere paths. More beds! Less grass!

My partner lives in CT fulltime with our beloved calico -- we both had daughters who are grown and off on their own. He has a bad hip and likes to sit on the porch and read while I work. Composting and digging are two of my favorite parts (I bring my weekly vegetable scraps to the country!), and listening to the Yankees on the radio on warm Sunday afternoons when I weed. I love to garden, a solitary pursuit. The outdoors is truly wondrous where we live -- we like to say it's beautiful in four seasons here, although I bemoan the long winters and itch to get out and feel my hands in the soil. My garden is wholly organic, my house is as green as I can make it. I try to give back in as many ways as I can. I feel I know so many of you because I know and look forward to seeing the pics and hearing about your gardens.
lucia

Been here since 2002 or 2003, can't remember for sure. Found this site when I started researching plants for the garden room we were building. Started out on the rose forum, also the old house forum. Found this forum and realized cottage style gardening was for me. Over the years have seen many posters come and go, while others remain. This forum and the wonderful people who post here have become an extension of my family. I would dearly miss it if I could no longer visit.

Hello everyone!

I am a frequent lurker here, though I keep meaning to post messages and become more active. The main reason for my lack of posting is my busy toddler who is usually trying to see what I'm up to on the computer, or commanding, "Mommy! ALL DONE with that!" So, for now it's just quick visits :).

I have 5 acres in Bellingham, Washington, a very rainy, yet very pretty place. We bought our property 3 years ago, and despite a pregnancy and ensuing baby, animals, jobs and about 5 million projects that need doing, I've started a fairly large garden. When we bought this place it was nearly in foreclosure, so the yard was a disaster. I don't know if you could even call it a yard - the former owners logged the property to try to make up some of the money they were losing and they left all the debris and stumps behind. It looked like a really awful, really overwhelming clearcut. Not an intentional plant on the place - it was all nettles, blackberries, and brush. Nonetheless, the house was pretty and the acreage had a ton of potential. Our house sits in what is now a very large clearing in the woods, so we have plenty of sun and a beautiful backdrop. I have a fenced veggie area (curse the deer!) which is always in need of attention, and several large, curvy beds which are finally starting to look like something. I garden most days, rain or shine, when my son naps.

Other than gardening I keep busy as a high school English/Literacy teacher (part-time since becoming a mom), and we have two dogs, a horse, and two baby goats as well. Gardening has become my favorite hobby - I'm becoming something of a fanatic. As such, I've loved learning from all of you, and I especially love all of your pictures. I promise to post some of my own soon!

MaryLu
"This forum and the wonderful people who post here have become an extension of my family"
That's how I feel!
Kathy

I have been reading on this forum for about a year, I have posted a few questions and responses, but mostly enjoy reading and seeing pictures of your gardens. I have been casually gardening for about 7 years and a bit more obsessed with it the past two.

I am male (seemingly one of the few on this forum), mid-50's, partnered, a university art prof.

I bought a small house in a small college town in WI 8 years ago. It had pretty much nothing growing but grass and trees (lots). I have added a bed or two every year, beginning with foundation beds and moving out from there. I suspect that in a few years I will sell my riding mower because there will be no use for it anymore - just gardens and paths.

I have been spending a lot of time on the vegetable forum (learning), and first found GW when researching about Dahlias (which I am a bit obsessed with right now). I love how chatty and friendly this group is, and that your gardens seem to be reflections of your lives. I especially like that the focus is on creating an entire environment, not just on "how to grow" or on "decorating the yard".

First off, Kathy your great grand is such a cutie, Jack Benny indeed LOL.
It's so great to see so many still hanging out here and a great big welcome to the newer members. New or old we learn so much from each other. I think of this forum more like extended family where we can talk gardening, what works, what doesn't, there's always helpful suggestions when you run into a problem.
We also have a Conversation side where we can discuss just about anything, not necessarily pertaining to gardening and.... we also have a Gallery side where we can display all our eye candy, remember the red, blue, yellow threads.

I often wonder how the missing in action are doing, wishing them all the best and hoping if they read this they'll pop in for a visit.

Annette

I'm still here, although I don't post often. I've been a member since 2008. That's when I bought the house that I'm in now - with no plants, only a couple of arborvitea of some sort. After just a few years I'm very happy with how it looks. Mostly perennials but also some small fruit, herbs and vegetables. Looking around the garden the other day I was surprised to realize that I bought only a few of the plants. The rest were divides or gifts from friends. Now that I'm at the stage where I can divide and save seeds, I'm trying to pass things on to others who garden. Especially folks who are just starting out - I love that! I hope to post more and be more involved here. I've gotten some good advice and some great ideas on this forum. Thank you all for that.

Hello gardeners,

I've been reading GW off an on for a few years--since the days of Spike. We have moved around a bit over the years (for DH's work) though and emails and usernames have been lost. Our moves have taken us to very different growing areas--the southeast, southern california, and now Iowa for the past year and a half. I am a dedicated plant fanatic and love lots of flowers plus plenty of edibles. DH helps me till up lawn areas, fix drainage and is now putting up a deer fence--I guess he got tired of my daily report of what the deer ate last night! So I am always learning new things and come to GW often whenever a question pops into my mind. I love reading past discussions and looking at peoples' photos.

I have two teenage sons and we are a homeschooling family although the kids recenetly started attending public school part time (a nice option here). Our family is very interested in science and DS #1 plans on studying theoretical physics in college. DS#2 is still undecided, but will probably pursue a tech career of some type. WE try to stay active doing lots of at home science projects (gaussian accelerators w/ magnets are the current project), participating in 4H, community garden/green activities, book groups, etc.
Thanks all for your generosity on these forums. The Cottage Garden forums have always been the friendliest place in GW. :D

I can't remember when I first posted here but it was several yrs ago. I am 60 and DH and I have been married 40 yrs this past Feb. We have 3 grown children and our first grandchild, a boy, is due on Halloween. We are very excited.

I have tried gardening for a number of years and have had mixed success. It wasn't until this past Fall that I felt like I had finally rounded a corner and can now say I have more success than failure.

I haven't posted much the past few months as I was pursing a hobby of mine. I rode my bicycle from Key West FL to Bar Harbor ME. I was with a couple other folks that I met through a cycling web site. We were on the road from April 28th to June 23rd...2900 miles. Last year I rode from St Augustine FL to San Diego CA. I saw the most splendid gardens in the NE this year. I was gawking as I rode past , My friends cautioned me all the time to watch out !!

My garden is mostly cottage. A friend came over while I was gone and he told my husband, " your wife is a real gardener !". I was so pleased to hear that :)

I have added sedums and soaker hoses both to try and help with our continued drought. I have had great success this past year with moving all my roses and adding a lot of plants from around the yard that needed more sun. I dug a large new bed 1/2 way in a neighbor's yard to get the needed space. Luckily no one minds. I am debating taking out most of the front lawn and all of the azaleas and adding more roses, hydrangeas and clematis as well as perennials. DH really wants to do this, he is not a gardener but now loves flowers as much as I do. We will see , as long as we are traveling so much and I have to pay someone to water for me I will have to wait I think on this project.

I have a small lot and I have tried to make " rooms" to add interest. I have added many arbors and trellis. I also have a nice collection of vintage metal and wicker furniture. It has made the garden more interesting. My theme is purple and I am ever on the lookout for more ways to add my favorite color.

This past Spring before I left on my trip I redid my 1890's porch ceiling. The old beaded board ceiling had been covered up years ago with luan. I had the luan removed and the holes in the original wood repaired. I then sanded and caulked and painted the whole 350 sq ft myself. It was a hard job but most worthwhile . I was able to match the original " haint blue" and I added antique wicker chairs, that need a lot of work, to the porch.

I have been retired since 2004. I have been a baker , as a hobby for almost 35 years. This August DH and I will go to Montana and I will pursue my baking as an intern for a week in a very busy bakery. We will camp all the way to Montana with our tent and bring our bicycles with us. After we leave MT we will cont. to visit state and national parks in the NW and down the CA coast. We will then retrace my route from last year and camp and visit many of the places I most enjoyed while riding my bike.

I won't be leaving DH again to do another cycling trip. Our time together is too precious and I miss him too much when I am gone. I purchased a Native American flute while I was in ME. I am now studying this . I am also pursuing meditation in a more thoughtful way , DH has been a Buddhist and meditated for years. We will go to retreats together. We will also do smaller cycling trips together and camp and ride where ever we next decide to go.

I love reading everyone's stories , This is a wonderful forum and I enjoy posting and seeing other's gardens. I look forward to many new and old friends here. Caroline

trailrunner - so good to 'hear' from you - and so many other folks! It's nice to hear from folks who don't normally post, and those we don't see as often as we used too.

Nancy.

I haven't seen Tom or Nell in ages, but I follow both of their blogs.

Tom's blog

Nell's blog

Wonder whatever happened to Steven in California with his gorgeous front yard potager? Anyone been in touch?

I live in SE PA, on the edge of the Amish Country, watching Suburbia creep closer every year. In the past, I lived in NY state, Massachusetts, and NJ. I teetered on the gardening edge from my teenage years, then fell head-first into gardening obsession after discovering old garden roses. Since then, I developed additional obsessions involving hydrangeas, Russian tomatoes, and wintersowing.

I am married to a wonderful man who listens patiently to my garden frustrations and discoveries, and eventually learns the name of anything I discuss more than 3 days a week. We have 2 spoiled indoor-only cats that give us lots of affection and entertainment.

I lurk often, post seldom, and I enjoyed the Cottage Garden afternoon teas even though I could only attend during my vacation.

I also think it's very interesting to see the different personalities of each forum, reflecting the people who 'adopt' it. The cottage garden is a great forum, full of kind and knowledgeable people.

You can read more about my gardening adventures here:

Here is a link that might be useful: But Wait, There's More

I haven't posted in ages - I had a hard time logging in for a while. I've been lurking, however.

For those who don't know me, I'm an architect who also loves to garden. My garden isn't really a textbook cottage garden, but I like hanging out here. ;) My husband, also an architect (and we have our own small firm) does some of my manual labor, but the design and gardening parts are all mine. Except my 7 y.o. daughter's border - she requests various plants, and I decide if they would be a good idea. :) She mostly requests them from other parts of the garden, which is very convenient, but we also planted some roses in her border. My 10 y.o. son likes to dig every so often, but isn't really a gardener.

The deer discovered the garden last year a bit, and even more this year. I finally resorted to buying an 8 pack of Dial soap to keep them at bay, which seems to be mostly working. And then we got the big storm on Monday, which blew down the top half of my neighbor's pine tree onto my 3 y.o. apricot tree! (I actually logged in to post on the fruit forum about it.) We also lost power for 4 days, which got quite interesting. We managed to save a lot of food in a big cooler, and fortunately, we have a lot of candles and flashlights. Plus, we had power at the office. And our water heater is gas, and old enough that it doesn't have a power exhaust, so we had hot and cold water.

I'll try to log back on a little more often...

Hi Cottage Gardeners~

I've been a slacker recently, when it comes to visiting and posting, I think I've been on Gardenweb since 2002. The garden is growing but the flowers get a mow job every few days from a deer family. The old fixer is looking pretty good. My crafts are selling and life is good on the island.
Leasa
Eastport, Maine

PS: the Link is from the 4th of July we had 17 overnighters for the weekend the old fixer served us well! Only a couple of kids had to sleep on the floor and they could have slept on the sofas in the South Parlor if they were older- no railing on the sofas LOL!

Here is a link that might be useful: Eastport 4th

Annette - what a great thread this has been!!! Leasa - great to 'see' you and Irene!! I was hoping that Glenda and PattiOh would chime in - sigh!!

Nancy.

Then there's danceswithwolves, angelcub, flowerlady and Eduarda, anyone heard from them. I think Edna(danceswithwolves), Nell(foxesearth) and MeMo did post not tooooo long ago, hope all is well with our friends. ...and Steven if he didn't have me in stitches he certainly used to put a smile on my face.

This has been a fun thread, maybe we can coax some of the missing in action back, you are so missed.

Annette

My name is Edna. Joined GW in 2003. I've been MIA for gosh over a year, maybe two?

Been busy with the business and life gets in the way sometimes. Happy to say DH and I took our first vacation 2 years ago and went to the Middle East (Egypt, Israel, Jordan) What a wonderful journey that was. Last year we went to Vietnam for our second vacation which was more along the lines of philanthropy work. While in Vietnam I was fortunate enough to meet up with Xuan. Xuan and I first met here in the Cottage forum ... small world :-)

Over the years I learned so much from my GW buddies. I am a much better gardener because of you all. We all share a common love and passion ... gardening.

XO Edna

I check Nell's blog about once a week. I think between that and gardening she stays pretty busy.

Was looking for some of Steven's front yard pics for someone on another forum and stumbled on his photo album. The most recent pics were of his marriage to Brian(?). Seems like that took place a couple years ago, so no idea what he's up to now.

I "hear" from Eduarda once in a while.

I'm still hanging around! (thought you got rid of me, didn't ya? Bwah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ahhhhhhh!)

Brief Summary:
I am the lucky Mother of 4 children and Grannie of 6 grandchildren. All gorgeous and exceptionally bright. The four youngest are very precocious, but well-behaved. The two oldest are adorable, but not so well-behaved.
We are a multi-cultural and racial family. A beautiful rainbow of children from various cultural backgrounds.

I was born and raised in southern California - 6th generation Californian on my Mom's side. My Dad was born here in central Oklahoma - 4th Generation Okie - he retired back here. I moved here to Okie from Louisiana with my kids in 1980. Now married to the most handsome, loving, gentle man in the whole world. My kids and grands claim him as "Dad" and "Grampa". My Dad says he's the best thing that ever happened to this family. Yes, indeed-y! :)

We live in rural, Central Oklahoma on a southwest-facing high ridge, of sandy, worthless, alkaline soil over layers of sandstone bedrock. We have our own water well. Weeds and Bermuda grass are my best crops. This is ranch and farm country. Cattle, horses, wheat and various kinds of hay are the main crops in this area. The locals think I'm strange. I know they are! We have chickens, dogs, cats, and a green water turtle. No cows or horses. Our neighbors all do tho'. I'm an artist and gardener - jack of all trades, master of none. Disabled. I take care of the "ranch" and herd the cats. DH is originally from West Virginia, but was raised in Holland and Scotland. Hi dad is from Illinois, and his mom from Scotland. His family moved back to the states to Tulsa when he was 13 yrs. old. He is the Environmental Quality Manager for a young & small aerospace company up in Tulsa.
We rescue animals and love wildlife of all kinds. DH does not care for snakes, however.

I grow flowers, trees, veggies, herbs, and work too hard at trying to recreate a Country Cottage Garden on this high & dry rock of a place.

-----------------------------------------------------------
Eduarda and I are good friends. We keep in contact year round. She is just fine, but work is keeping her hopping. They just took a break from it all - a holiday to the beach. I got a beautiful postcard. Timmy, her adorable, loveable pooch, is doing great too. hey are having severe heat and dry weather too. They even had a tornado there in her town - I think it was last fall. Did some damage to the elementary school, during school hours, but not to their home. Very freaky for Portugal!

Anyone hear from Lorna in NM lately? I haven't heard form her in ages. Haven't heard from Rose in a long time either. Hope they are both okay.

~Annie

Hello, Annie and all,

Annie, the last couple of times I Emailed you (quite awhile ago) the correspondence would not go through. Your account wouldn't accept incoming Email. Congratulations!

I joined GardenWeb about four years ago. I don't participate much anymore, but I play the trivia games once in awhile.

I primarily grow organic produce. My produce gardens have wildflowers, herbs, French marigolds and chrysanthemums for companion planting insect control and attracting pollinators. The produce gardens are about 700 square feet.

I have some ornamental areas as well. My main flower garden is pretty much a bust this year. Although I put a lot of time and money into it, I didn't make a good selection of plants which can survive this high desert climate.

Regards,
Lorna

Hi Lorna, nice to see you still visit once in awhile, how are all the critters doing, do you still have those precious little hedgehogs?

Another missing in action, Martha (Mora) anyone hear from her?

Annette

Hello, Annette,

Unfortunately, all of the hedgehogs have passed on, one by one. Two of them lived to be nine years old. There are currently eight dogs and two cats in the house. I have finally managed to fence the produce gardens well enough to keep my garden raiding dogs from helping themselves to my food plants. Here is a photo of part of one of the produce gardens from three weeks ago. All of the winter squash and pumpkins in the foreground are now vining, French marigolds are beginning to bloom, and the half-runner beans are climbing the fence. Greening the desert!

Here is a link that might be useful: photobucket

Hello Lorna Dah-ling!
I am SO happy to hear from you. I worry about you living way up there in the High Country.

Please try another LINK. That one just directs me to the main photobucket page. I wanna see you garden girl friend!
It sounds great. I am so pleased that you finally got your fencing up. Helps keep out four legged and two legged varmints. ;) Los banditos!

(HUGS)
~Annie

Hello, Annie, how strange about the link. I copied the link from my photo! I'll try again. I tried to embed the photo into my text box, but I couldn't make that work. http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj91/lorna-organic/P1010009-1.jpg

Another we haven't heard from in a long time, Libby, I miss seeing her yearly picture of her cottage garden.