What kind of gardener are YOU?

I couldn't decide - a little bit of most of these! Sometimes I'm a conservative gardener, other times throwing caution (& seeds) to the wind :-) Would have to settle on Mother Earth I guess, as I try to keep tabs on 'em all.

~Shannon

I voted "natural" although thats not quite correct. I'm trying to attract "wildlife" birds, butterflies, cool critters, etc. Natives are THE major component. Pesticides are used only on fire ants.

I always want what I cannot have! When I see all the pics of lush tropicals, that is what I covet, and in 5a????? They would look so great with my house, but I am adapting to the 5a challenge. Considering a warmer zone for my retirement though! Lugging heavy pots in and out twice a year gives my yard more of the look I wish it had year round! :)

Kim

I tend to buy the largest plant I can find - especially tomatoes. We have a short growing season in Reno and, due to the altitude, cooler nights which slow down the growth of veggies. My yard is also short on direct sun which is a problem sometimes. My son works for a nursery so I get a 30% discount all year and I feel I can splurge on the larger plants. That discount has saved me hundreds of dollars over the last few years!

Jean

I love it when you hear " wont grow here , too hot , cold ,wet , dry ,humid , arid ." . Yep get a few failures but thats half the fun and I better tell these plants they cant grow here in winter .LOL.

Holty in OZ.

Plants are all God's creation and good to grow! Also it's a fun and challenging not to mention theraputic (did I spell that right :-)
My Aunt once said to me when I commented on a specific garden plant I did not grow, "If you didn't plant it, then it's a weed pull it up". Well I tried to follow that advice, not going to happen with me, I just make a new garden around it, LOL

holty - That's sure a nice picture. Makes me think spring is around the corner, but here in the foot hills of the Appalachians, winter is stomping its feet. Is that a greenhouse of some sort you have the plants growing in? It just looks inviting, for a lack of better words :-)
Dennis

Hi Dennis ,
its old stables that I am converting into a hot house of sorts .I have replaced every second sheet of roofing with clear polycarbonate to let light in and it seems to be working well. Temp stays about 5 Degrees above outside and obviously stops frost and wind. The tables and racks are happening soon as well. ( Is a hammock a gardening tool ?)

I had to vote Mother Earth, because I do baby my plants to the extent I have killed some that just wanted to be left alone.

I could have fit into some other catagories also, as I try to grow things that aren't supposed to grow here. If they are hardy close to my zone, I'll mulch them and see what happens in the spring.

I also have brugs and such that aren't supposed to grow here. (Daredevil? Exotic?) I have them in huge pots and in the fall I bring in the ones that are going to bloom, so they can finish blooming in the house. (Oh! The wonderful air freshener!). The ones that didn't get to the blooming stage I put in the garage to start to go dormant, and once they have lost all their leaves I put them in the crawl space of our house until early spring. Then they come back out again. I do lose one or two each winter, but so far it's working great.

I don't, however, buy the biggest plant I can find. I find that the smaller ones adapt better than the large ones, and grow just as fast and catch up.

Undecided? Yep, that's me also. I'm always digging and plopping things into a different place. I will most likely continue this until I get my yard and beds the way I want them, which will probably never happen.

Not caring for the hardscape of concrete nor liking to mow lawn, I choose to put a plant of some kind in place of both.

I am getting braver to planting things I wouldn't have dared to a year ago and that is mostly from encouragement in reading the forums.

I voted Mother Earth because I closely resemble that yet won't tolerate a plant not willing to do its part to survive. There is always something else to try in its place.

I put daredevil because I'll give anything a go.
thats the beauty of seed exchanges, it only costs you a stamp, and you get the choice of loads of different things that would cost you a fortune if you had to buy them.
if they don't work...well, do something different next time.
i've only ever paid what I'd call a lot of money once for a plant that I'd coveted for ages, ever since seeing it in a gardening mag.
A clematis, it was beautiful when I bought it, smothered in white flowers. planted it in a favourable spot, then over the next 2 years it got chomped away by snails and slugs, no matter what I did, they got through.
I used to stand at my window, and could watch this advancing army in the spring, just waiting for the new shoots to appear!!..
Never again.

Never say never!

Mother Earth...I would never leave them in a hot parked car, I try to pick up after them when they scatter their leaves all over the place and I often give them a loving whack to keep them in line.

When I first plant them, my babies sleep. Then as toddlers they learn to creep and by the time they hit their teens they sprawl all over the yard.

I try to teach them not to push and shove with limited success and frequently have to provide them with new clothes (bigger pots) and really need bigger beds for them since they keep out growing the nursery.



This message was edited Aug 30, 2004 12:32 PM

Beautiful picture, holty !!
I want to crawl right in and hang out there for a while. :-) Thanks for posting it.

Shannon

I'd say that I fall under whimsical. I like strange and "exotic" plants, though I'm not much into yard ornaments.

I had to go with farmer I do grow a few flowers the ones that take care of there selfs

hmmm.... i didn't vote....

i'm lookin the the 'other' comment or one that closer defines what i do. lol.... :D

this is the second poll that i've noticed in time to respond to, n both didn't include me. guess i'm more different than even i thought... ;)

o course i tend to blame them that writes them there polls.... i'm wonderin just what part of Oz they live in, cuz them polls don't never reflect what i might answer.... hehehehe...

now, if in the future there is a 'live well or be mulch' box to check, i'd be more than happy to.... :D

Cheers!!! Arod

After years and years of trying to grow my ''English '' flower garden I finally discovered all of the beautiful tropical plants and fruit trees to be had, so about ten years ago I switched and the fun and awe that I find when these plants bloom and fruit has blessed me so much...and even having to hand pollinate has been a rewarding challenge..do not be afraid of the tropicals if yu live in a climate where you are able to do this...even some northerners have tried and succeeded...I am now growing seeds of tropical fruits and plants that I had never even heard of a year ago...the wonder of nature...marion

Haven't had time to read everyone's comment...but I'll be back for that. :-)

Me? I'm "Mother Earth" only because this is the first summer I've had in many years that I could spend ALL my time in the garden...AND it's the first time ever I've been able to have plants aside from marigolds and zinnias. So you bet your life, I'm going to "smother" them. And believe it or not...I didn't *kill* any with kindness. Yet! :-)

~julie~

whimsical thats me!

Exotic and crazy is me! I've got a lot of tropicals but the Plumeria, Bananas, Passiflora and Adeniums will be getting prized window space in this zone 3 gardener's house!!

I think I am a bit of everything, except for the "No-frills" and "Farmer" types :^)

I had a hard time deciding, too...I'm 'tween Daredevil, Exotic and Whimsical!

I grow both indoor and outdoor plants, and experiment (very carefully!) with pushing the limits on growing a lot of plants that aren't hardy in my zone, but won't completely thrive indoors) on my unheated sunny porch. I've reached the conclusion that it's usually (unless it's well below zero outdoors...then some of them come in for the night!) a zone 7 on my porch.

I didn't vote. I like to push the zone quite a bit and if things survive under heavy mulch they survive and if they don't I don' t get them again. I do bring in a fair amount of plants for the winter but this is probably going to be phased out in a year or two. I say that now but I can always change my mind.

I love native plants in the dry sections of our yard but grow things here in the high desert that others wouldn't even try and they seem to thrive as long as the water gets to them on a regular basis. I also have an advantage of owning a huge natural pond that I can plant water lovers next to and they get all the water they want and grow huge quickly. I am whimsical in some areas of my yard but I am also developing a small Chinese meditation garden and a "forest" from which a handmade stream will flow and spill over a huge waterfall and into our natural pond. It is fun trying to figure out where to put everything and refiguring things when we change our minds on placement.

I am just not sure where I fit in. I just got a greenhouse this year so I am trying all kinds of tropical plants that I always wanted but didn't feel I could have. I am always pushing the envelope as far as zones go. I do move plants around alot. And I love to grow from seeds and cuttings. So I guess I am a mix of all.

I could've checked off several of these! I love exotic stuff. Odd-looking stuff, stuff that no one else around me has. I push my zone limits as much as possible, usually successfully. DG has opened up a whole new world of gardening to me. I have discovered so many things I never knew existed, and I'm truly grateful to be here with all these knowledgeable folks. I've learned more here in a few months than I ever have in my lifetime of gardening!

Well, I checked "exotic", but I could have checked "daredevil", too (both of these items are similar since you really need to be a "daredevil" to plant the "exotic" (based on the definitions above).
Mike

I would say I am a daredevil and an exotic. I'll try and grow just about anything, ESPECIALLY if someone says it cannot be grown here. I love tropicals, and have tried growing many that are suppose to be hardy in my zone, and have been successful, and not so successful. I've tried the seed thing, and will do more seed starting come spring, for next year, esp. with herbs. I grew some Basil this year, and it smells so good when the foliage is wet, I've let it go-to-seed, hoping it will come back up next spring to fill up the garden.

I am the coveter of all things that don't grow in my zone!!!!

I have no idea what I will do this winter, but sure have had fun seeing all of the wonderful things I shouldn't have!!!

I said daredevil because I am willing to try plants that aren't supposed to grow in this zone.
Had a real time not saying I move everything, cause I do. If something doesn't do well, rather than pitch it, I figure its my mistake, and I just didn't put it in the right place. Sometimes it succeeds greatly, sometimes I downright kill them.
Am also a daredevil cause I'll move plants in the heat of summer. I fiqure I'm going to drown them w gallons of water, they should make it. As long as I remember the watering part, they usually do. Have lost some great plants doing this when I forgot to water.
When I moved into this house it was 15 yrs old and no one had ever planted anything but daylillies.
So, I figure,if I make a few mistakes, it still looks better than when I moved in!!
Jay (smooth)

Daredevil.

I'll try anything twice ;-)


Wintermoor

I didnt vote but do buy my plants from a feed store and just put them in the ground. They usually grow well unless i dont water them when it stays dry. Here is a sample of my gardening adventures with the veggies. These squash plants are gone now but did produce well all summer long. I sowed seeds to get these. Robbie

I can be all of them at different times LOL, although I picked exotic for my vote.

Impatient and undecided. And also ruthless. Snip, slice, toss.

I love to try new plants but since money is scarce I try to buy when on sale, or get from great members on DG