GW Name - Weeper

What does your GW name stand for?
My adoration of various weeping trees and conifers.

Real Name - Katie

Age - 21

Companion - Husband, married 1 1/2 years

Children? Grandchildren? Not yet! I'm just a baby!;)

Pets?
2 horses, 1 Siberian/Maine Coon indoor kitty, and a German Shepherd/Great Pyrenees puppy.

Where do you live or used to live?
Grew up around Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan; now live near Young, Saskatchewan. I've always lived on a farm.

Zone? 2b (according to the Canadian Zone Map)

Do you work?
Yes, I work at my husbands families feedlot. In the summer I only work part time so that I can work with my colt and maintain/work on our yard.

Companion Occupation?
Full time feedlot employee, who is now working on getting his CGA.

Other hobbies besides gardening?
Walking, painting, writing, and horseback riding. Oh, and I love to read, and watch a few shows, and see good movies.

How long have you been gardening?
I helped my mum garden growing up, but I've only had my own place to garden for 1 year!

Where is your garden located and what is its size?
My main flower bed is a large raised bed that wraps around 3 sides of my house.

Courses in Horticulture?
Nope, I just read a lot.

What are your specialities in gardening?
I'm an orchid fanatic. I don't have any more suitable spots in my house to grow any more than I aready do!

Favorite Flower? As far as outdoor plants go, probably a tie between lilies(so dependable and so many varieties!) and echinacea(great colors, tough plants)

Favorite Tree/Shrub?
Picea Abies "Pendula"

What has been the best-performing plant/plants in your gardens?
Lilies and daylilies.

Most Challenging Plant?
Some hostas - I'm having problems with Blue Mouse Ears for some reason...Oriental lilies because they really are not hardy in my zone, but I'm determined to make them survive!

Favorite Gardening Quote?
"Gardening soothes the soul & soil"

Favorite Garden Magazines?
Gardens West and The Prairie Gardener.

Favorite Garden Books or resources?
Lois Holes series and this forum

What is your favorite tool?
Hands and maddock. I don't have the money for any power tools unfortunately.

What are you most comfortable in when gardening?
Jeans, t-shirt, runners and definitely no gloves. I need to feel the soil.:)

What has been your best garden purchased or project?
Well we've only had time to work on one project, which is our wrap-around perennial bed which is probably nearly 24 in deep, very large, and dug entirely with shovel/maddock in alkaline clay. Yay for peat moss.

Any projects in the works or planned?
I want a potager rather than a typical farm veggie garden. We need to finish the perennial bed first though.

If you had an unlimited budget, what would you do with your gardens?
I would fill a lot of our enormous yard space with more gardens...and I would have gazillions of dwarf conifers. I love the little guys. Of course, I would also need unlimited time - cause where's the fun in hiring someone to take care of all those plants?

If you could invent a plant, what would it look like?
A hardy pale pink or deep red rose that looks like a tender rose.

Describe an experience with a garden pest that had you ready to throw in the trowel?
Carpenter ants. They were not hurting anything, but they were all over a section of my garden and it made working in there very unpleasant. I'm still working on fixing that one..

What advice do you have for the novice gardener?
I would say I'm fairly novice, so I'll keep my mouth shut.

What is your motivation for gardening?
Something relaxing to do; I love creating beauty, I love triumphing over zones, and I love "painting" with flowers and foliage.

Hope to hear from some fellow 2b gardeners. Feel free to email me if you want to chat privately:

katiefro_11@hotmail.com