Where did you get your love of gardening?

Kasey didn't know what to make of her new floral smell, it was like she didn't know who this dog was LOL!

And Penny doesn't care for that smell either, she just was rubbing her face in the corner of her bed, popped up with wild hair!

And ahhhhh, look at that shine on Kasey's sleek coat.

And she goes in for her cut in 3 weeks, her eyes are getting lost too! Here's an earlier shot of her.

I was a real estate brooker for twenty years and I had lot of success.

I made a huge transaction, took a year to make, made good money.

The day after doctor told me I was in a burn-out stage. I had to quit my job.

Doctor told me to go and work in my garden. That was 1996. I did not have any. I knew nothing about gardening and I had no intention to sart.

Afetr few months I made my first flower bed and I loved it. My neighbor gave a plant he had all around his house ... hosta.

Then I got a second one.

In a short time I had a collection. I was attending all kind of conferences on gardening.
One day I got a call from a television program. They told me they were preparing a show about the burn-out and they invited me to tell how it cured my sickness.

Next day everyboday wanted to know about me, my garden, etc.

Even Gardeners Diary came from Atlanta to tape a show of my garden.

Then I was looking for more hostas. I had no information. I was looking everywhere. And worse of it, there was nothing written about hostas in French. So I was asked to write one.

Two years later the book was published: 350 pages, more than 500 pictures etc.

Since then I did a second book on daylilies, then a third one on irises. I am now writing a fourth one about the Slow growing conifers. I have thousands of pictures. I give over 40 conferences a year, I have my own Radio Show on Gardening, I taped 13 TV shows on gardening last summer.

And my burn-out is gone.

YEAAAAAH

Hurray for you, Reggie. So glad the doctor had the cure.

Good Doctor! Good for you Reggie. What was the segment on Gardeners Diary called? I still have a bunch of them taped. I love her show, and it just came back on here.

What a wonderful story, Reggie. The therapeutical value of gardening is something we mostly overlook, I think, until we're stuck inside in winter.

The show was taped in 2002 or 2003. That was the first garden out of USA shown on that show. They stayed three days at my place with Erica Glazener. I know the show was on the air quite a few times.

Since then I took thousands of pictures almost everywhere. That is why I started that Gardening Stock picture agency. It is only opened to gardeners taking pictures.

They are te only one who can really identify a plant compare to professional photographers.

Reggie
Does the doctor know your story?

My doctor once told me to bake bread.....hmmmm
wonder what life would be like if I did as he suggested. ....

Reggie do you know about Tony Avent and Plant Delights Nursery here in North Carolina? You can get a free catalogue (the covers are collected by many) and he specializes in hosta.

What was the name or number of the episode, Reggie? I didn't realize it took three days to tape one of the shows, wow.

You must have a beautiful garden, I've never seen one on the show that wasn't. It's my favorite gardening show. I used to like the one with Kathy Renwald from Canada, but we don't get that anymore. Was it a Gardeners Journal?

JoAnn, I liked your reference to the Flying Wallendas. I named the very best cat I ever had Wallenda because he literally flew into my arms when I met him. I was walking in my old neighborhood in Piedmont and talking to a neighbor when I heard a tiny mew, looked up, and saw the smallest kitten on earth calling to me from the attic vent of a house I was passing. I said, "Hi, Kitty," and he jumped right into my arms. Miraculously, I caught him.

He was so young that I don't think he could even see yet. He just jumped toward the sound of my voice. Apparently, a feral cat had climbed into the attic of the house, had kittens, and died a few days later.

My Wallenda was so young that he had to be fed KMR (Kitten Milk Replacer) every two hours around the clock. I used a baby doll bottle to feed him. I think he grew up thinking I was his mother. I never had a closer bond with a cat before or since.

He continued to be the Flying Wallenda all his life, routinely jumping from the house to the garage, which were a good distance apart.

Zuzu, that is a lovely kitten story.
My latest, Jazzy, rode 10 miles somehow in the undercarriage of some kind of SUV to find me...he is the one terrified of noises, the ice dumping in the fridge, foil, vacuum cleaners, cars starting, dropping something...he weighed 14 ounces when I found him, and now he is huge. When we had the ice storm and it sounded much like a war zone around here, he flattened himself against me and would not budge. I have cat scratches around my neck and shoulders that are just now going away. Daisy was so cool she just sat on my feet while we huddled in the recliner.

I was afraid if a tree crashed into the house they would run under something and I would never find them, but no, they stayed glued to me the entire two nights. Then I had to leave the house of course, because there was no heat, and I couldn't take them, but they nested in the blankets that I left out for them in the same recliner, and I came home every day to stay with them as long as I could tolerate the cold. And while I was here I had candles, but by then they were no longer scared, since most of the trees were already down and there was nothing else to fall. I guess their fur coats kept them warm.

Cats are such adaptable animals, it amazes me. When mine refuse to come in at night, after I try everything in my power to get them in, they'll sleep outside, even when it gets down into the 30's and it doesn't seem to phase them one bit. The 30's are about as low as it gets here, but they don't appear to be any worse for the wear when they stay out all night.

I think I worry about them more than they do. All their layers of fur appear to insulate them just fine. I've often wondered how they would fare if I moved to a place where it gets below zero and there's snow.
They'd probably do fine. I would have a more difficult time adapting to that kind of weather than they would.

I had a pretty difficult time adapting to my house when it remained at about 35 those 9 days, too. Didn't bother the cats though.

Here is a pic of the inside of one of my windows. It looks out on the driveway, and you can see my red car through it, though barely.

At least the ice formed a nice design.

But today....oh my goodness, look what I found....amidst the muck and the timber covering my back yard.

Hope springs eternal !!!

Zuzu. My aunt and uncle lived in Windsor Locks, Conn. quite close to Hartford which wasn't so far from NYC that I couldn't go a couple of times a year for a week or two. My aunt was very straight-laced, born and raised in the Bible belt as my Dad was. My uncle was simply the sweetest man in the world.
But my aunt loved me and spent a lot of time and trouble with me. I found out years later that she had made an agreement with my Dad to adopt me but my Mom balked.
The problem was that as a hotel manager, large families were discouraged as they took up too many rooms.
It was a good thing that I never found this out when I was a child or teenager, as I am sure I would have been devastated. My Dad never made it obvious that he wished he didn't have me, but I didn't get the education my older brother and sister got and was considered dumb. It wasn't until adulthood, when I accomplished some things that no one thought I could do, that they found out better.
So it was a good childhood except for the confinement of hotels and moving as the hotel chains transferred my Dad around. I gardened in my head for years.

I'm sorry you had to experience that false opinion of your abilities, but I'm glad it didn't stifle you as an adult.

Gardening in your head... That's a lovely concept and it actually tells me something I never realized about myself. I never was allowed into our family gardens when I was a child, but I used to embroider all of our pillow cases with elaborate arrangements of many different types of flowers, experimenting with different designs and color combinations on each pillow case. Because of what you just said, I now realize I was gardening in my head all of those years.

gotta love a survivor

I will find the cassette to give the name of the episode.

Yes I know Tony Avent. He has many odd plants. But he is expensive.

I was there couple times.

Yes expensive. He says the nursery and botanical garden is like a huge lab. I imagine that in order to bring the plants to market that are developed out of the site, it takes a lot of resources---sort of like what the pharmeceuticals say about drug development. If I find something I really like, I will spring for the plant and do without others but I sure hate it when I mess up and it dies --there goes a big investment!

missingrosie, how do you like Hillsborough? I understand that there is a lot of historic preservation there and I love towns like that.

I like living here alot. Less for the historic end of things because it isn't right in your face or anything like that --folks live in the houses etc. As I understand it, they have to jump though a lot of hoops to do things they want to do in and about their property. There is an old indian settlement with a teepee in place along the river ---but the old buildings and history are not the 'wow' factor as in some other towns. What is nice is that it is a small walking town with little shops and restaurants and real people - not tourists - just going about everyday life, walking dogs, lunching, farmers market, etc.

Being located 10 min from Chapel Hill and 15-20 from Duke etc. etc. has its advantages - arts, access, lifestyle, resources..and while that is nice, not having to live in the thick of it but rather in Hillsborough is also nice. So sort of best of both worlds.

Sounds like heaven

Brevard is walking town too, but we have lots of summer residents and tourists in the spring.
Yes, if you buy a house in a historic district or have a house locally designated through the state government, you are buying the rules and it is clearly stated. You can modernize the interiors and HVAC systems, add rooms and porches in the architural style of the orignal building and add fences. But the materials cannot be plastic or siding other than wood. The architectural history is what they're preserving.
We have 17 homes, 1 downtown district and one district ready to be designated which is 1900s neighborhood near downtown.
We only started about 3 years ago with the designations so I am a happy camper.

I think what I mostly hear concern about is that to keep with the integrity of the structure/history - the costs can be a great deal more.

I do realize that the buyers know up front. It is a dilemma. Taxes are just so high in that downtown area for the folks that live there (have been there for a while) that to meet up with a repair and then have to do it a certain way can be prohibitive.

If you head this way -- give me a holler -- I'll give you some tips about where to go etc, and would be happy to have you over for some tea and talk!

cool, maybe one day. I have a niece that lives there. I think she is a social worker at a hospital there.
I have heard of the rules in some historic districts being a bit too strict but mostly, if they aren't fairly strict and spelled out clearly, people will cheat a little here and a little there and the next thing you know, you can hardly tell what the original structure looked like. In individual cases (not districts) the owners get a tax break.

Yes, well what I hear is second hand and that is never 100% without personal opinion. But I hear that there is war all the time with the the county agencies trying to foster growth (and a tax base) and those that want to keep the rural areas untouched. And, that to buy into the historic district is a nightmare etc. etc...who knows.. I work at a hospital here - we've got three major - UNC, DUKE, and Durham Regional (leased by Duke).
You just D mail me when you are ready.

My dad use to plant a vegetable garden occasionally. I remember as been quite young and planting some sweet peas in a pot and kept it on my windowsill to grow. Also Coleus, I remember being fascinated to learn that if you pinch the top as it grows, it becomes bushier.....I guess we had to start somewhere.

sweet story.
We did a projuct in school with dirt in a papercup(they were waxcoated in those days)
Put a kernal of corn in and watched it sprout.