You know you are a gardener when:

Am I a gardener if all of the above doesn't strike me odd because it describes my life (well, except the part about the kids, Pix described my kitchen)?

I really laughed at WW's Thud. My poor dh.

You know you're a gardener when your Amazon wishlist is filled with garden tools.

Laurie, you are definitely a gardener. Did you see the latest article about the garden queen, Beth Chatto? It's in one of the British gardening magazines. I cannot remember which one just now. She is 86, if you can believe that, and still going strong. She says she is not sure she would want to continue living if she could not garden. I can understand that. She has made financial arrangements so that her garden will be cared for and open to the public after she is gone. What a woman!

Hi Melissa -

If you remember the name of the magazine, would you post it? I'd love the read the article. I'm guessing it has pictures . . .

It's The English Garden, January 2010. Yep, photos.

Yikes - that's pretty quick for getting the issue out. I'm on it. Thanks!

You know your a gardener when you have talked neighbors into letting you plant in their yard and keep moving your pasture fences back just a little more because the horses won,t mind and you really need more flowerbeds

You know you're a gardener when your mailman comes to the door with a handful of bubble mailers and says "MORE seeds?!"

You know you're a gardener when you're currently reading six garden books at once while you ignore the novels piling up in the corner.

Welcome to the forum, madeyna!

OK now when you look through seed and plant catalogs AND both you and your wife are deciding on what to buy, how do you decide when you are opposites? Too much conflict with seed and plant catalogs. They are outlawed in our home. Well until I build another garden space to plant and seed.

Oh dear, Sofer, and here I thought I was suggesting a cozy and entertaining Wintertime bonding activity for you and your wife. I guess you better get working on that new garden space so you can both make a wish list of favorite plants and seeds and have enough space to plant them all.

I was suggesting a warm and bonding thing for me and my darling. It is just not going to happen in choosing a plant to place in our garden. You have to know that I do not submit nor does my DW. Lets see maybe flannel sheets and silk pillows and have some pillow fights for bonding.

I can just see Soferdig submitting to his wife's ideas for the garden! That will be the day! :) ROFLOL!

You know you are a gardener when you have ordered bulbs at the November sale prices, they arrive just before Thanksgiving, the weather report says it is going to pour for days after the holiday, and you are out in the yard digging holes and planting at a breakneck pace in order to get it done before the relatives arrive. In fact (since this goal was not reached) you are still planting bulbs when the turkey has come out of the oven and everyone is at the table waiting for you.

I admit to doing this last year. I have had admirable restraint this year and did not succumb to the lure of the bulb sales except to spend a long time making wish lists and then deleting them so as not to repeat the holiday bulb planting debacle.

In summer I always think that I'm going to disregard the winter temps and precipitation. It's different when you're trying to get your bulbs planted . . .

I keep telling myself that when its pouring out and I want to plant those daylilies that I got at GE, not to mention the asters, Mahonia, and there must be a thing or two more.

But then I turn around and wonder "Whats going on at DG?" and it gets dark.

Madenya!!!!! That one I can really relate to!!

You know you are a gardener when you have pushed back the fences, acquired another field for the animals, started the beds and then informed DH that you need to double the size of the greenhouse and he just shrugs agreement.

Suffering from envy here for all of you who have space to expand......sigh.
But you know you are a gardener when you dream of winning a major lottery and knowing full well that you'll be spending it on that acreage you are coveting in the middle of a stormy night, while catching up on DG. ;)

That is also the advantage of living in Montana. God makes us quit gardening by Thanksgiving. Ground frozen and snow piled up. No bulbs would survive planted after October. You guys over on the coast need to take care of your family members by getting in the house by end of October. LOL

It is quite true. After I finish planting the last few, I would love to snuggle up with my DW about what to get for next season, but she is not interested. For those of you that got your DW into gardening, let me know. I thought it came naturally to members of the fairer sex. Seriously, on the PNW forum I bet we are out numbered by 2 or 3 to 1 if not worse.

We live in the northwest so we never have to stay in the house for long. ^_^ We can and do garden year round.

To have a DH who would love to garden my way would be a dream come true.

I do not think their can be two gardeners in the family. Then I would have to ask permission from DH before I tear up another part of the landscape.

You know you are a gardener when you talk to your plants and they talk back.

Blooming this week. Red Caster

Hi skwinter, That's a beautiful plant.

I like the gardening profile of my family just fine the way it is. I garden, my dh sits back and enjoys the show and doesn't interfere with me. He loves seeing the garden, and loves seeing me in the garden, then loves the twigs in my hair. It doesn't get much better than that. I can show him lovely photographs of gardens and he oohs and aahhs, but doesn't try to make plant choices. Excellent man.
In terms of getting inside to take care of my family by the end of October, that would not work at all. It would completely interfere with my husband's dinner routine which goes a little like this: 'Melissa, dinner is ready.' I continue to pull weeds, etc. "Melissa DINNER IS READY." I say, 'Thanks,, honey. That's great. I'll be right there." He brings his dinner to the table and commences to eat. Two hours later, after he has cleaned the kitchen, I show up and put my dinner in the microwave.
He is a very patient man.
Rob, you are completely out numbered on this forum, but I fear that's because all the male gardeners hang out other places. We love our token men here and try to be very nice to you. Be very careful what you wish for. Soferdig's wife chooses plants while he is away..then plants them in strange places. He never knows what he is coming home to after one of his famous forays into the wilds of Alaska. I fear that it is cause for marital distress. Perhaps you could simply allow your wife to be near you while you peruse seed catalogs rather than try to get her to look with you.

You own four tillers and they all run. Better yet you can convince wife she can run the smallest two LOL.Ernie

Amen Pixy. Though when we are out in the garden working life is grand. Analog as a man in todays "make up for the past" you need to submit to the DW decisions. Her shopping can always out do even the most dedicated man. So her plants rule and to keep from going broke I quit buying. Also our gardens allow no room for the growth that the plant makes because of overbuying, trading, and saving lost plants. I have taken the role of garden designer and soil manufacturer. Oh yes and occasional secret plant mover.

You know you are gardener when......You receive a crate of bulbs in October (that you don't remember ordering) from a web purchase you made last January when you were jonesing for some garden time and had to settle for pics on a computer. – 350 bulbs – I may have had one too many bears that night. But I will have one hell of a beautiful spring bloom. Oi ve!

Then the credit card charge hits and I resign myself to caffeine free soda from here on out.

You know you are a gardener when you are on the laptop, pull out your credit card and your DH faints....

You know you are a gardener that has had a few martinis when you get an acknowledge of an order the next morning and say to yourself, "I did not order that". Then you back tract the order. Oh Ya.

.....a gardener when........you’re cruising the web and you call your DH to look at this gorgeous picture of a brugmansiais and he looks, nods his head and says “yes, really nice honey”,...with a glassy, dear in the headlight look, that you recognize as his “garden appreciation look”…you sigh and tell him you love him.

.....a LOVED gardener when........he puts up with trays of plant cuttings on the kitchen counter, dinning room table, most window cells and the window of his garage.
.....a LOVED gardener when........he doesn’t complain about a sizable charge to your credit card that you made in a weak moment last January.


I told my DH I would put away the credit card this winter and not give in to my desires. It is going to be a long winter. shudder!!

Oh, I am so sorry. I usually get out of control and then back off. The bill usually gets me back on track.

Ohh noooo, I have just seen another on-line bulb sale (Easy to Grow Bulbs) and the nurseries on the Island are having 40% off sales. My resolve is wavering..........maybe I will just go take a walk around tomorrow morning.

To my absolute astonishment, my DH got involved with choosing the irises I was going to order last Summer, and by golly the list of desired blooms got longer to include the ones he liked. I had actually called him over to look at my list in hopes he would help whittle it down That strategy certainly backfired.

when you get out in this mornings mud to plant new plants, just because it is not raining.

ROFL! I see that “garden appreciation look" on my hubby's face a lot...

I love the 'you're a loved gardener' .

soferdig, 'secret plant mover', LOL! You know, Steve, the answer to this problem is to build more beds. Poor Steve. His wife has taken control of the garden. Make her promise that she'll give them back when you retire. And stop trying to make up for man's past mistakes. Enough already. You're way past forgiven.

Mstish - my heart hurts for you! No credit card this winter? No fair!! Maybe dh will give you gift certificates for Christmas.

You know..... when you find yourself walking around a nursery you've never visited, looking at each and every area, in spite of the bone chilling winds gusting to 30 miles per hour, and the gathering gloom of night. Because, after all, they are still open.

Mauryhill, I thought your dh only liked plants he could eat. This sounds like a very slippery slope to me.

Pix... a nursery, you say? Around here? Do tell.

You know you are a gardener when you can go through every one of these posts and don't find yourself shaking your head once and saying "I don't get it".

This truly is great...makes me realize that if I'm crazy, at least I've got a lot of happy company there!

I also really like the "loved gardener"!

You know you are a loved gardener when your DH takes the extra care necessary to manage to switch out 500 gallon propane tanks that sit in the middle of a full flowerbed with a wisteria arbor over it without harming a single plant!

You know you are a gardener when you can spin a tale like that with a stright face.