Greetings to you all ~

Hello everyone, I am a newbie to your group,
just peeking in for the very first time.

I live along the US Atlantic coast where the winter's chill has put my garden to sleep for the time being. *sob*
So what does a gardener do when she can't garden?
She chats about gardening, of course.

I look forward to getting to know everyone, and to participating in lots of great gardening chat.

PS - Whilst having a look around, I realize that my geographical location is a bit far afield - I hope that's not a problem.

Sure isn't, love you name BTW

Hi, it's good to meet you.

*WHEW* Glad to know it's all right ...
it would be just like me to accidentally wander into a private party halfway 'round the globe.

more the merrier we say around here

Cheers to that!

It's going to feel a bit weird calling you Canna worms , maybe I'll stick with Canna. Nice to meet a new member and gardening is gardening the world over, there will always be something to chat about. Have to ask, do you grow any roses? I suffer from addictions, sad to say. Roses are the latest - no, sorry, the heirloom tomatoes are. I'll be very interested to see how you garden in a cold country.

Betty wrote:

It's going to feel a bit weird calling you Canna worms , maybe I'll stick with Canna. Nice to meet a new member and gardening is gardening the world over, there will always be something to chat about. Have to ask, do you grow any roses? I suffer from addictions, sad to say. Roses are the latest - no, sorry, the heirloom tomatoes are. I'll be very interested to see how you garden in a cold country.

Thank you for the nice welcome, Betty.

Yeh, Canna worms are pretty foul little critters, aren't they?
But the name just seemed too apropos not to use.
Yes, of course, please do feel free to call me Canna, or worms, or Ellie
( call me anything ... but late for a meal - as my gran used to say).

Oh gosh, I truly do understand addiction-driven gardening.
I seem to become compulsive (obsessive, even) about some particular plant (or family of plants) ... but then my attention is taken by something else ... and the cycle starts again - I'm sure it drives my poor hubby crazy(er)!
Luckily for me, he is the patient sort and always tries his best to play along.
Occasionally I have to gently remind him that my madness is nothing new, and was already well-established before he took me on.

I love roses, and have tried again and again to grow them - would have many if I could - but my climate is not conducive to the varieties which really spark my interest.

Rosa banksia does passingly well here, but the winters (tho' a bit too cold for tropicals) are just a bit too mild to afford enough "real" dormancy for most roses.
Pair that with our summers, which are hot and extremely humid, and it is a constant battle with fungal and viral diseases.
I still can't resist planting one or two in containers each spring, and growing them as annuals - can't wait to enjoy your beautiful pictures.

Ellie sounds good to me. I am relieved to find that others get obsessed with certain plants because I could see Liliums and hippeastrums becoming the next fads here. . It may have been orchids but I'm too good at killing them.
The rose addiction for me began when my sister started bringing along big bunches of huge roses when she visited us. She has either 2 or 3 hundred and they are old established roses, hence the flower size. Mine are young yet. I guess we wouldn't be keen gardeners if our hubbies didn't play along. LOL. I notice Ian has stopped complaining about my roses now they are flowering. I'm hoping to educate him, naming the roses I bring into the house for him and pointing out which have the best perfume. (Like the David Austin rose, Sharifa Asma ....a very fragrant rose.)

Mary-Anne will sympathise with you about heat and humidity and what it does to roses, she'll have had all the problems you have. Roses seem to do well in our area regardless that it's semi arid. It's a dry heat in Summer usually - worried that we are going to get a few steamy, humid days with thunderstorms this week though - and our winters can be frosty. It's not really cold and wet enough for my delphiniums to be perennial, so like you with the roses, I have to treat them as annual. Worth the effort, isn't it?

Indeed, making heroic efforts for plants that we love is worth it -
or ... ... if we eventually decide that it isn't ...
the compost heap is always hungry.

Oh Betty, your roses sound like just what I'd love to be able to grow. Those wonderful, lush, romantic ones. Have you been propagating cuttings from your sister's roses, I wonder?

*hahah* I'd hate to know how many orchids I have killed over the years.
Then, hubby and I built a small glasshouse about 16 years ago, when we brought back my dear mom's collection from Florida, after she passed away.
That has made all the difference for me - I won't say that I never kill them anymore , but at last count there were well over 100 of them, and quite a few that belonged to mom are still with me.

WOW would love to see a few of your orchids

Ellie, here are a few of my roses, refugees from the heat. They even suffered a bit inside, it was a scorcher here, but you can see that they aren't their full size yet. I'd like to say I left the Vegemite jar up in the left top corner so you can see their size , but I'd be lying. Forgot to put it away, I only snapped this shot on a whim tonight.


There isn't a rose there that I didn't buy, but yes, Barb has given me some own root roses. I also bought own root Tea roses from a nursery up in New South Wales. I would kill to have a glass house and a shade house. My sister has both but then her hubby was a carpenter and is a lot fitter than my hubby. I really envy you all those orchids.

mmmmmm Betty

OH! MY!! GOODNESS!!!

Betty, that is the most spectacular bouquet of roses that any one ever "gave" me.
You sure know how to make a newbie feel welcome.
Thank you, ever so kindly.

Well, you said that Ian doesn't complain now that your roses are blooming,
And I can sure see why! Those are just stunning, no bunch of Orchids is any prettier than that.

Glad you like them, Cheryl and Ellie.
I'm training hubby, Ellie. I already think he'd reckon it was strange if I didn't come home from shopping with a new rose. Back in my horse showing days I thought it was hilarious when a pony breeder friend said she cries when the show season is over for the year, but you can see where this is going, can't you? I love the rose season, being able to buy or order new roses. Must admit I'm sad when it finishes.