Finally I know what I am ....

I look upon everyones wonderful pictures of containers, gardens and flower beds with such envy..... My yard will never look "landscaped", it is a mix and match accumulation of whatever I see at the store and think I like..... I see other people at the nurseries with their grid paper and all the little colored shapes on it with their plant list in hand and think there is something wrong with me - what kind of a gardener am I (as I toss this plant and that plant in my basket). I should make a list and create a plan to help control the chaos. I walk around my yard not with the grid paper and plan in hand but with the shovel and a plant until I find a spot that I think my newest addition will look good in......

Today I realized there is nothing wrong with me and I'll never be a gardener...................

I am a PLANT COLLECTOR......

HA! Me too! There are a ton of us here! Lately I am a crab grass collector though!! Everywhere....

Should post pics to give everyone a laugh at my 'garden'. LOL!!

Now if I could just teach the 3 yr old and the dogs to distinguish between a flower/veggie and a weed...

Nicole

I know... my dogs are either washing (if you know what I mean) or running over some of my favorite collectables......

Yep! Or digging, in the wrong places of course! Oh well.. Dogs will be dogs!! And 3 year olds will pull out ALL the flowers!

Nicole

vs - well said....*applaud* - I like that...Plant Collector

A good title for me also!!!

Judy

I think of myself as a "dedicated" gardener. I'm not all that great with landscaping I think. My gardens do look nice where I've been redesigning. But I'm like you. I collect. I like to have one or two of everything. Symmetry is not important. Consistency is not important. What I value is a unique plant in each spot. I just love it when people visit and every foot or so, they exclaim "Oh what is this? Wow, look at this! OMG I've never seen anything like this!" That's what I go for.

I do have collections. I collect hostas, daylilies, irises, cannas, heucheras, sedums, succulents, toad lilies, and more. But I just want one of each variety. I'm "dedicated" to increasing my collections. I'm "dedicated" to emblazened trails of exotic plants throughout my gardens. I'm a "dedicated" gardener. LOL

NancyAnn

Ha, ha, Whatever I plant by the backdoor gets "washed". I found a large 12" high squirrel statue, I thought he'd enjoy washing that last thing before he went in the house. NOPE. It seems to disturb him, he walks clear of it...it's like a Gargoyle for dogs. So my squirrel gargoyle is now protecting my bed near the house from "washing"....

Dedicated is also a good term......

Razz..... I can't resist I'm sending you an PM about your squirrel....

vs71099, a gardening friend of mine told me "there are grid gardener's and there are pie in the face garden" I am definitely a pie in the face gardener. I find a plant, I find a spot and I put the plant in the empty spot...and on and on. Still I think it looks beautiful, and I'm the one who see's it the most...We all have our own style and that is good...Mary

oops, I meant pie in the face gardeners....

pradamary,
"Pie in the face Gardener" is a good one too...... I'm like you ...... I can't remember ever buying a plant to fit a spot..... I find a spot after I have the plant.......

Me too! You just gotta have it, you buy/snatch/receive it and then get home and - where do you put it???

Nicole

I think "committed" gardner is more appropriate for me....I think I AM committed to gardening, but my family just thinks I SHOULD be committed.....

Well, I just found this thread and hope it's not the end of it, cause I certainly fit here. I buy things just because I like them. There's absolutely no rhyme or rhythm to what I buy ... except that I LIKE IT! Today I bought a butterfly bush. It was just soooo pretty I couldn't resist it. It's the most gorgeous deep purple you've ever seen. I have beautiful Black Eyed Susan's that are just beginning to have little tiny buds on them planted down my fence that I received in a trade from Jill, 2 gardenias, a beautiful hydrangea, a star jasmon and a tea olive. I guess the only thing they have in common is ... they are vivid and smell wonderful! I am definitely a hap hazzared gardener. BUT ... I adore it!

Dear 101, I agree with you. I go to every nursery I see in my travels (and I'm a visiting nurse so I do travel) I buy what I love and if it's a great deal (or sometimes not, depending on how much I love it) I buy it. I find the most appropriate free space and plant it. If it thrives, the next year I'm out looking for more. I have run into overcrowding when too many finds thrived in one area, but I've had some decent luck moving things around...I'm with you, I don't plan it all out, but I adore it, too....Mary

Somehow when I think "committed" I think of men in white coats... which might actually describe my style of gardening. I'm a lil nuts.

Yup Killer, that's just what I meant when I said my family thinks I should be committed.

Well, I guess you can call me committed also, cause last night at 12:30 i was outside in the pouring down rain trying to rescue my "babies". They are actually drowning! I was running around putting things on the carport ... soaking wet and the DH is out there *bless his heart* saying "It's not worth getting pneumonia over!" But we were both out there trying to grab the things that just were too young for all that rain! It's been raining every day here again. I have these little tiny bottles sitting all over the place with cuttings I'm trying to root. It looks so funny. All you see are zip lock bags standing up everywhere!

really like the pie in the face description!
I am totally crazy ambitious and have these huge flower beds. I am using some classical symmetries for the design...... but things always got so stryingy and congested. Like a punk rock english garden. Its cause I can never bring myself to 'plant in threes' in the spring so by midsummer its all hairy and stringy/overgrown and dense. Its very handsome in a painterly way.........I cant resist the accidental nature it creates, but very hard to rest your eyes on. I felt so disgruntled about this 'problem' til I see Im not alone. heh heh thanks

G2, you are a real trip!

back atchya!

LOL!