Introduce Yourself! (Even if you've been here for awhile)

[Antonia-Amaris]

I probably should have introduced myself first before ranting on...

Well, My name is Anya (atleast that what everyone calls me), I started my first garden back in 1993. Was actually inspired by the oddest thing on valentines this boy had given me a rose which I had kept in my room for weeks and forgotten about. One day my grams was over visiting and asked where I had gotten it, I didnt think nothing of it and told her. I never seen my grams that shocked in her life before. She went over to it and pulled it out the vase, to her and my amazement it had grown roots. My grams said the oddest thing "You must have befriended a garden faerie, child". Now I know better than to believe in faeries but at the time I was still young and that amazed me  and I wanted to keep the fae happy so I  had my grams  take me to the gardening store and buy some soil and pebbles and cosmos seeds. When we got back home I went to work, there was an old sand box,  I used since the sand was nearly gone I dumped out the soil and drew six lines with the pebbles and planted the seeds, watered them and sat there staring waiting for a faerie that was my ritual just about everyday after school  I talked to the the sand box full of dirt and each day added a little something I brought home to decorate it. When the seeds had started to sprout I had gotten more excited. Thinking "yay! now the fae will come", when I think back  on those times  they were the happiest times even though I never actually got to see a faerie each year on my birthday I look for a new plant, flower, herb or veggie I dont already have to add to my garden. even though my grams is gone now I still feel her near when I tend my garden. ( well I am teary eyed now )

[becke_davis]

 First, Anya is one of my favorite names and second, I LOVE the story of your grandmother and the "fae!" I've always been fascinated by garden faeries and the like.  You can read about the Case of the Cottingly Fairies here:

http://www.lhup.edu/~dsimanek/cooper.htm

The movie PHOTOGRAPHING FAIRIES is hard to find, but you can download here:

http://www.nyalines.com/watch-movie-online-/watch-Photographing-Fairies-movie-free-online/

And I loved this movie:

Fairy Tale: A True Story 

Fairy Houses and Beyond!  

Fairy Houses ... Everywhere!

  

Fairyopolis

  

How to Find Flower Fairies

 

The Complete Book of the Flower Fairies

  

Flower Fairies

Flower Fairies

[lilio]

Hi, I am still trying to figure out which of these book clubs I would like to join - mostly all of them but one does have limits.

I am 68 and have read anything I could get my hands on most of my life.  I was fortunate to have a Mom who encouraged that.  When I was young she would get "comic books" call Illustrated Classics. I read Les Miserables before 4th grade! 

Dad, on the other hand, was and angler and a gardener.  We always had a large vegetable garden.  Loved those tomatoes warm from the sun, eaten with salt in hand with juiced running down my arm.  We also had a neighbor who raised several flower gardens.  She took me under her wing and taught me about watering, rooting coleus in glasses of water, and the names of her plants.

Now I plant something wherever life leads me.  Currently I am planning a flower garden in our front entryway.  last year I put in a culinary herb garden out our back door.  How delightful it was to run out back and clip something for use in our lunch or dinner.  I even managed to save some sage for Thanksgiving.  I am trying to keep my Rosemary alive in the house over winter - we will see.  I am anxious for Spring to see what survived.  We are in a new climate, so I am not sure what may regrow, although I am pretty certain about the oregano and sage.  I suspect many of the others are annuals.

[becke_davis]

Well, this is one you don't really have to join. While we feature new books every month, it's nothing like a traditional book club where you go through the book chapter by chapter. Some of the "book clubs" at B&N work that way, but I prefer this to be a place where people can come and talk about gardening and garden-related topics, not just the featured books. 

If you have questions about a garden-related topic -- say you need help identifying a plant or a plant problem -- we all jump in with suggestions. If you've visited an interesting garden or found a garden book or calendar you like, this is the place to share the details.

I'm glad you decided to visit with us!