How to Spot an Avid Gardener

... or you go on vacation and then almost get divorced when your wife finds out that you made here an unwitting accomplice by smuggling cuttings in her packed underwear. (customs agents never spend too much time rooting though a bunch of frilly underwear!)

This message was edited Oct 30, 2007 10:04 AM

You go out in the early morning, And decide what you are going to start on, get to working on it then find you have had help in messing it all up by your 4 legged family then have to start all over again. or they started it first.

going on vacation is a thing of the past in the spring and summer!

what's a vacation?

Don't know,
Means to me more work, can't go now where;.////
To many things to do>> LOL

Tom, now that's funny . . .

Gosh, I'm starting to feel more and more normal . . . This thread is good for my self-esteem. And I'm going to ask for a set of gardening tools for the car for Christmas.

Hey Katey,I think we both posted at the same time. Thats a good one.
Have fun Sat.

Oh, LOL!
Grrnthumb, SO glad to know I don't live in the only house with his and hers pruners.

true confessions....I paid an airline change fee to make a trip SHORTER because I was worried about my plants.

I want to know what frilly underwear is - mine are all 'functional' so they don't bind/pinch/creep when bent over.

Frilly underwear?? Isn't that uncomfortable?

This was 20 years ago on our honeymoon. If my wife finds out I been talkin about her underwear on the internet I'm in trouble. Ya'll better not say anything at the plant swap! :)
She still hasn't forgiven me for that, reminds me every chance she gets.

LOL, I was looking at Pixy's question and thinking it looked like one of those dangerous "When did you stop beating your wife" sorts of questions myself. :)

Grrnthumb-
You don't watch out and she will make you wear the frilly underwear just to get back at you!

Oh I love this! It makes me feel "normal".

There seem to be a lot of us who do that. Hmmmm . . .I really should give up and just design my wardrobe (and what's available to wear) around my gardening. Oh . . . wait . . . I already do that. Hee hee

Roflol!! Hey, maybe it's the rest of the world that is insane, not us! What is the definition of 'insanity', anyway?? Today I spent 2 hours at my favorite nursery buying perennials for half price. Most of them will need to be divided at least into two plants before they go into the ground. I was the only shopper there who was looking at plants. I don't consider that insane. I consider it good financial management!!

I must confess: many times I have been tempted to sleep in my gardening clothes. The only thing that has held me back is the fact that I do, after all, sleep in the same bed as my dh. He may not want to sleep next to a dirt infested wife. But it does seem like such a waste of time to take clothes off that I am only going to put back on again in less than 8 hours. So many things in this life feel like a complete waste of time. Driving. Cooking. House cleaning. the list is eternal.

you mean, we're not supposed to sleep in our gardening clothes??

Guilty,
What the sense of wasting good water for the washer, save it for the plants.

And Frilly
I thought that was only in the mags, didn't know you actually wore them, that would be to uncomfortable for anyone in there right mind (do we fit) hee hee

Oh LOL!! Hey, maybe it's the folks who put on pajamas who are insane! This is the only mind I have, so I hate to waste it on things like washing clothes, etc! Oh, it is so very, very good to know that I am not alone in this world!

So what nursery is it Pixy????? Did you say in another post that Lowe's had stuff on sale for 75% off or was I dreaming?

Molbak's has plants on sale for 30% off right now, too. That would make them closer to regular price, but they do have good quality and a nice selection of "new" things.

Gotta love that weekend that you can spend in your gardening clothes and not worry about anything other than comfort.

It's willowtree gardens up on N 27th St in University place, Rachel. Their perennials are 50% off, since most of them are dormant. I can't even remember all the things I found, most of which I can actually use! Let's see.... a pink jasmine vine that is hardy, some kind of clumping lysimachia (which I've never even heard of) with a pink spikey bloom, some little pots of artemesia 'nana' for about 1.75, some Dracocephalum 'fuji blue' for 1.75, some Euphorbia 'chameleon', I think, and a cool monkshood. Also a digitalis I'd never heard of before, comes from spain. Oh, and Knautia macedonia , which I've been wanting to try.

You see, it's like this, folks: my dh wanted me to mail a small package to Canada. Since I HATE the post office in Lakewood and would almost rather lose a limb than go there, I go to the PO in University Place, just up the road. People are cheerful there and don't mind waiting on customers. The line goes fast. I leave happy rather than completely depressed.
It happens to be almost just across the street from Willowtree Gardens. What's a girl to do? I had no choice!

Lowe's had plants on sale for 50% off. They still do. Get while the gettin's good.

Ooooooh. Lowe's isn't really a nursery, is it? I'm on restriction from nurseries, but not from hardware stores. Haha!! May have to go to the hardware store tomorrow to get . . . . . something . . . .maybe nails (hee hee).

Thanks for the info Pixy! I'm trying to control myself but it's so darn difficult! Especially with those prices!

Pixy,
Was the Euphorbia 'chameleon' $1.75? Do they have any more? I think I might have to go to Lowe's tomorrow (willpower is failing.......The plants are calling to me....)

Katie,
I'm sure you need nails for something! That is a great reason, think I will use it too!

Jadajoy (who does a great quote thing that I haven't figured out) wrote: "So I'm not crazy after all? Thank you for clearing this up :-) I feel much better now knowing that when I start in my garden at the crack of dawn in my yesterdays clothes and am still out there at 5pm when my neighbors return from work and they look at me and shake their heads that THEY have the problem, not me! HA!"

Jada, you're neighbours are not looking at you because they think you are insane - that is pure, undilute, ENVY - 'she has got it right they are muttering, I want it too!" - go gardening girl - lead by example!

And 3gardeners - I'm a committed gardener, but after hearing of some of the discoveries others have found in their trouser cuffs, I think I am going to suggest that sleeping, in the bed, in your gardening clothes is not high on my reccomendation list - PJ's are a point of courtesy, no slugs under the duvet. Or at the very list, check your cuffs first. Boots off. That is a definate. Socks optional. (gawd my socks are the worst!)

laurie1
Heres a link to do the quotey blue box thingy

[HYPERLINK@davesgarden.com]

Hey, thanks for the link! I've wondered how to do that for 2 years!

Yes, Laurie, envy pure and simple. If only these neighbors had their priorities straight they, too, could be out in the yard early in the morning.

Last night, around 8:30, I was wandering around the yard with my flashlight, as usual, when I realized someone was calling my name. It was my across the street neighbor, who knows I am a freak when it comes to being in the garden. She laughingly said "what are you doing, Melissa". Really, there is no answer to that. I mean, what does it LOOK like I am doing? So I just smiled at her. She said "Oh, of course. Out in your yard as usual, right?" You see, people? They are trainable!!

Rachel, the euphorbia was at Willowcreek. What I got at Lowes was gallon sized heucheras for 4.00. :))

And now, to work.

Yes Pixie,
It sems they are trainable and they should all have this addict...affinity for nature:-)

Off to Lowes's!

Lovely.

A garden addict is when they really do believe the new great grandchild was in the pumpkin patch.

LOL

I know the Pumpkin Fairy did it //////

Wait a minute! What do you mean the grandchild wasn't in the pumpkin patch! Are you quite sure???

Avid gardener tip no. 1: always hang the laundry outside when you are gardening. Then when people complain about the fact that you are always gardening, you can smuggly point to the laundry. Shuts them up immediately.

Avid gardener tip no. 2: don't take the laundry in for 2-3 days. No one ever notices what is actually hung on there, and you can always look at it smuggly during the next accusation.

Avid gardener tip no. 3: when you do finally decide the laundry is dry (or ready to be washed again because it has hung out for so long it is now cover in bird poop) fold it but don't put it away. Then when someone asks what you have been doing all day you can stand next to the folded pile and look hard-done-by and deprived. They are obliged to be grateful and suggest you should leave the rest and do some gardening.

I like your tips Laurie.
But the rest of you who went to the local plant trade this weekend are in big trouble. They ratted me out to my wife that I was talking about her underwear on the internet.
A curse of a thousand horsetail weeds upon you all! May your plants rot from too much rain, shrivel from virus, and what's left be devoured by a hoard of mammoth slugs! ;)

ohhh, you are not a nice avid gardener grrrrrrrrrr(n)thumb - not nice at all. However, I'd leave out the slugs - after all that horsetail, rain, and virus - most gardeners would be more than happy for the slugs to eat the lot. I'd pull back on the slugs if you really want them shaking in their wellies. But an excellent curse nonetheless, I give it 4.5, just needs a touch of fine tuning.

Pix, did you really tell her about the frilly knickers? awwgggggkkkkk, I can't believe you shopped him!

LOL, Tom!

Just to keep the record straight, it was NOT me, I had nothing to do with it. It was nice to meet you, however. Maybe next time I'll actually get to the brug talk!

It was me!!!! Tracy seemed to be such a sympathetic and understanding person, I figured that it was better to get it out in the open and explain than to wait for the topic to pop up. Funny thing is that she didn't even bat an eye. Seems our Tom (her Tom, really) doesn't surprise her anymore :-)

Tom, what about my baby brugs? Surely you don't want such a fate to befall them . . .

I don't have horsetail (yet), but I will be fighting to the end with the bracken fern, salmon and thimble berry, and, of course, our little friends the European slugs. Seems like they've mostly gone to bed, though. It's the native that I'm seeing out in force now. Good slugs, right? They only eat decaying material, right?

Yep, it was her. She? She did it. I was there and I heard her distinctly and so did Susybell. I don't like to even THINK about other people's frilly knickers, much less refer to them in mixed company. Tom looked scared, but I think his wife is just used to him. It is very nice that they garden together, and yet like different things. That is very cool. She was excited by my hydrangea offering and anyone who gets excited about hydrangeas is okay by me.
Katie59, I am not starting a thread about all my cultivars! :) That would be inviting trouble. I have H. nigra rooting in the bog garden, along with a few others. I'll let you know when the roots develop. Keep it under your hat!

Yes, Katie59, those are good slugs. Kill them at your peril. Wish my european slugs were sleeping. I fear they have just had babies and I missed the exciting part. Now I get to see the part where the offspring begin to feed. Unfortunately for them, they will soon be eating their last meal. I feel so cruel, and yet so elated!

Re Tom's curse: lime will kill horsetail. So I will see your horsetail and raise you a bag of lime.

Maybe we could do a little combination anti-curse remedy. Get some salt, a container, some lime, some ice, some alcohol. (blender optional) Works for slugs, horsetails, and gardeners?