Hi Everyone! I'm Gill and live in rural Northumberland. Married to Neil and 46 years old according to my birth certificate (it's obviously telling porkies because I barely feel 20!). I've been mad about plants and growing stuff since I was around 3 years of age and my dad gave me a tiny patch in the back garden to cultivate. I grew basic easy annuals like Candytuft, Nasturtiums, Virginia Stock etc....stuff which I still find space for in my pots now! For a few years I lived in a tiny flat with no garden so became rather obsessive about my houseplants and had as many as possible on every windowsill surface in the house. Unfortunately the flat where I live now only has a south-facing living room and north-facing kitchen & bathroom window so I've had to reduce the number of plants I have Neil bought me a phalaenopsis orchid last year which absolutely terrified me as I'd never ventured into growing them, thinking them too tricky, but one led to another and now I have four of them on my living room window - all phalaenopsis - and I think later this year I may try a new variety. I do have a courtyard at the front of our flat and over the past three/four years I seem to have steadily acquired more and more pots and containers in which I like to grow flowers and plants which attract wildlife - I love to watch the bees, butterflies and hoverflies busying themselves in the summer Just five minutes from where I live there are allotments and I applied for one in July last year but haven't heard anything yet, despite there STILL being quite a few empty and neglected!!! I think a trip along to the council offices with ANOTHER filled-in form may be in order this week - perhaps I need to pester them until they give me my own plot just to get rid of me Anyway....off to explore this site and get to know you all
Hi Gilly and a wonderful welcome to GardenStew What a great intro. Are you excited for spring, because everyone here is (speaking for Northern Hemisphere members of course). Hope you enjoy our company and have lots of great discussions!
Definitely excited! I'm a keen birdwatcher & naturalist too (forgot to mention that!) so being able to feel the difference in the air this past fortnight has been very exciting. I plan to change the compost in my pots soon as I need some fresh put in and yesterday I went into a Wilkinsons for some cat food and came out with FOUR packs of plants ~ two hardy perennials (had Neil baffled as to him they're just bags of soil!): 2 x Echinops and 2 x Echinacea for the bees and two packs of bulbs: 10 x orange Crocosmia and 20 x Dutch Iris (hollandica mixed). Ialso picked up a pack of Nasturtum seeds last week which I plan to try growing over a trellis - I need to get them started on the kitchen window soon....as do the Sweet Peas I have from a gardening magazine last year. Heaven knows how much stuff I'll grow if I get my allotment....Neil will never see me!!!
Another big, warm welcome Gill this time from up north in Scotland. You sound just like the rest of us here at GardenStew - addicted to gardening!! I really look forward to learning more about you and getting to know you.
Welcome Gilly! We are on a small farm in central Texas, and if my husband can't locate me, he knows I'm in the garden somewhere, or playing with the chickens. You'll love the Dutch Iris. For some reason they are very cheerful plants!
Hi and welcome from SE Texas. I can feel your excitement way over here! Looking forward to seeing all those lovely plants. Good luck on getting your plot at the lottie!
Hello Gill,welcome to the Stew. I'm down south in not-so-rural Swindon.Your enthusiasm is shining through your post so you will fit right in We love to see pictures...just sayin'
Welcome to GardenStew from warm and dry north central Texas. Sounds like you have a large garden just not in the ground outside. We would love to see photos.
Yes! I would love to see pictures. I envy your green thumb with plants in pots as mine seem to struggle. I do hope you get allotment soon.
Thank you all SO much for the lovely welcome It's been a busy week...on Monday a workmate of mine mentioned that the council were after tenants for the allotments just up the road from where I live (the ones I applied for in JULY!!!) so I rang them up as soon as I finished work at 1pm. Got an answering machine so left a message. Tuesday I thought ''shy bairns get nowt'' so I tried ringing them again and this time spoke to a lovely lady and she took my details and said the guy in charge of the alloments was out the office but would ring me back the next day No he didn't!!! And nor did he on Thursday so I rang the office again but just got that silly answering machine!!! This morning, Friday 20th, I dedcided to give them until 11.30am to call me otherwise I would call them....and at 11.10am the phone rang!!! It was the guy from the council so I arranged to meet him at the allotments at 11.30 and by midday the plot was mine!!! I still cannot believe it and cannot stop smiling I feel like I've won the lottery!!! Took a few photos and stuff so going to see if I can find a section to do a separate thread