A garden is a lovesome thing, God wot!

[MaudantWit]

Join us for ongoing gardening chat in the MN potting shed. Blow the cobwebs off a deckchair, help yourself to a glass of elderberry champagne and tell us about your garden.

[Rhubarbgarden]

This is page 40 of 40. And I'm 40.

It's all over now.

[echt]

I'll look out for that, rhubarb

[Rhubarbgarden]

Echt and anyone else who's ever had a horse thing, there is a book I can't recommend highly enough - Dark Horses and Black Beauties by Melissa Holbrook Pierson. It explores the whole women and horses thing in a really fascinating and readable way. One of my most enjoyed books ever.

[echt]

I more or less thought i was a horses a child, drew them obsessively, and read and re-read Mary O' Hara's Wyoming novels

[Rhubarbgarden]

I love horses. In a parallel life I could easily have ended up completely horsey. But I always had too many other interests, and horses are so all-consuming that I was never prepared to make that commitment to them.

They never fail to stop me in my tracks though and make me squeal if one trots by. I don't think dd is all that bothered about them, but ds... I see his eyes shine when he sees a horse.

He also has a bit of a thing for cows, mind.

[Squeakyheart]

I went for horse riding lessons with my brother turns out he is violently allergic to them so that put a stop to that!

I can see my lovely acer!

[echt]

I had a den under the arching branches of a massive mock orange bush, nearly tree in our back garden.

for nightshade.

[MaudantWit]

Whoops! I didn't mean to fill up the thread quite as much as that.

[MaudantWit]

I've always been rather wary of horses and dd is not much interested, although she enjoys the occasional pony ride on holiday. We have stables near us and years ago she said she might like some lessons, but her hectic extra-curricular schedule of dance, drama and Guides doesn't leave sufficient time.

I have fond memories of making tents in the garden from upended deck chairs and an old Union Jack but dd rarely plays outdoors and I have failed to transmit any interest in gardening.

::parenting fail::

[MaudantWit]

I've always been rather wary of horses and dd is not much interested, although she enjoys the occasional pony ride on holiday. We have stables near us and years ago she said she might like some lessons, but her hectic extra-curricular schedule of dance, drama and Guides doesn't leave sufficient time.

I have fond memories of making tents in the garden from upended deck chairs and an old Union Jack but dd rarely plays outdoors and I have failed to transmit any interest in gardening.

::parenting fail::

[MaudantWit]

I've always been rather wary of horses and dd is not much interested, although she enjoys the occasional pony ride on holiday. We have stables near us and years ago she said she might like some lessons, but her hectic extra-curricular schedule of dance, drama and Guides doesn't leave sufficient time.

I have fond memories of making tents in the garden from upended deck chairs and an old Union Jack but dd rarely plays outdoors and I have failed to transmit any interest in gardening.

::parenting fail::

[MaudantWit]

Ivy leaved pelargoniums!

Yes, these threads are always good fun. Plenty of sharing of horticultural ideas and knowledge but lots of other entertaining stuff too.

[funnyperson]

Rosa Munstead Wood!
I've enjoyed this thread. Welcome again to all the newcomers!
See you on the new one! [smlle]

[LadySybilLikesCake]

My deceased sweet peas

[Blackpuddingbertha]

Daphne!

[Blackpuddingbertha]

Runner beans!

[Rhubarbgarden]

Shout out the name of the first plant you see when you look out of the nearest window! Mine's rhubarb - hah!

[Rhubarbgarden]

Although we have to fill this first.

Or I will get all twitchy.

[Rhubarbgarden]

Eek! New thread here

[Blackpuddingbertha]

The DDs are a bit scared of horses not encouraging this fear at all, really not at all The swimming and piano cost enough.

My father was in the forces. We moved every two years through my childhood so it was always pot luck whether anything but grass grew in our garden. And if there were beds all we ever did was weed them. No point planting anything if you're not going to be there to appreciate it. We made a lot of dens and mud pies though.

Rhubarb, if you don't start the new thread by the time we get to 998 I will be forced to unleash Winnie the Pooh...

[SugarPlumTree]

That would have traumatised me too with the ladybirds. I used to have riding lessons just down the road (lived in Bristol) behind the Dairy. We went up onto the Downs but never really learned properly there as you weren't allowed any faster than a trot and had to be lead at all times.

In the end we went somewhere a bit out in the country and uses to try to ride the horses in the field behind the school behind us. DD had a few lessons at a stable here but it shut down and she list interest. My neighbour has a horse, elderly now. She's 80 and I think until her stroke recently her and her friends used to spend their time up there drinking Pimms all summer.

[Squeakyheart]

Good grief the thread is racing along. Child of the 70/80's here too and my den was under a lilac tree that was under planted with snow drops. My garden doesn't have anywhere to fit a den for DD when she is bigger will have to be creative!

My first bit of gardening was helping my dad plant a silver birch in the garden of the pub we ran at the time it's still there thirty odd years later and is beautiful. I was talking to my mum about it a while ago and apparently I just came home one day with a small birch tree and would not say where it was from and I have no recollection of this at all! offers belated apologies to anyone who 'lost' a tree in healing ton in the early eighties!

Like the tickling quote and hello to lady Sybil and congrats to nightshade x

[Callmegeoff]

go on rhubarb

[Callmegeoff]

I remember that summer very well, there was a lady bird swarm arrived suddenly at the beach carpark - we couldn't get to our car without crushing them. I was quite traumatised!

Dc's tried horse riding in Spain last year and weren't too keen yay it's quite pricey now!

[Rhubarbgarden]

Ha ha my brother used to do that to slugs!

I had riding lessons too, back in the day. It cost 50p to canter through the rhubarb fields. I've just booked dd's first riding lesson for next week. Suffice to say it will not be costing 50p!