Hello everyone :D

Hi all, seems I forgot to introduce myself and jumped right in with a whinge about my clematis
I'm Karen, living in Cheshire and really looking forward to learning from you all! I've only recently become interested in my garden now that my children are grown and I've decided to maintain a better life/work balance.
Ideally, I would relocate to an old cottage in Wales, ideally by a stream and preferably complete with an old oak tree. Bliss! However, current circumstances dictate I cannot move, hence my username: Bloom where you're planted. At least this means my current garden will now get a little bit of TLC.
I have an 11 year old springer spaniel, named Tigger (yes, very apt!) who is my best friend and 'helps' me in the garden.

 

(again ) to GC Karen.

I don't know if gardening truly does provide and real work/life balance ... Spring is frantic with deadlines looming; weeding can be back breaking if you have a neighbour like mine Winter can seem like it will never end with the green fingers twitching for Spring and veg growing can be (in my case anyway) very hit and miss! But, as a pastime it is the dogs knees in my opinion

Oh, you'll have to post pix of Tigger in our Pet Forum - plenty of pet lovers on here

We have a number of members in the Cheshire/surrounding area, so they will appreciate your growing conditions and weather cycles very well.

Lovely to have you join us.

 

Thanks and hello again @"M" :D
I guess the aspect of gardening I've been doing lately has been the fun part. In terms of planning a raised sleeper border and deciding which plants to put in. So, I've enjoyed picking plants and seeing if I can keep them alive so far. Things outside are looking so much better and more colourful which is so rewarding. Perhaps ask me if it's still fun in winter!

Plenty of Tigger pics, so I'll head over there later on.

for such a warm welcome.

 

Welcome to Gardeners Corner

 

Welcome to Gardeners Corner Karen.

 

Thank you for the welcomes @Zigs , @Fat Controller & @Sheal.

Much appreciated

 

. Sure you will have fun here.

 

Welcome to the forum! When you get time, add your zone information.... maybe we have lots in common okay, maybe not, but I can give great tips on how to swing a snow shovel

 

When I went home to Wales after visiting parents for Christmas, I found a large rock embedded in my kitchen window double glazing

Apparently it was my fault for being English and I should expect things like that if I buy a house in Wales...

 

Hi Karen, I'm new too and also from Cheshire

 

Hi Karen, to Gardeners Corner, we also have a dog called Tigger he's a Westie.
Were a friendly bunch on always happy to help, I'm also from Cheshire, but originally from deepest darkest Lancashire.

 

Hi @luciusmaximus , @CanadianLori, @Sonya & @Ian Taylor

@luciusmaximus I'm certain I will enjoy being part of the forum; everybody is so friendly already!

@CanadianLori , I'll take a look and see if I can figure it out. I love snow actually, but only the crisp, fresh snow, can't be doing with grey sludge that we usually end up with.

@Zigs Oh dear, that sounds, erm, welcoming! I guess I'll be mindful to research carefully exactly which part of Wales might be open to 'infiltrators'

@Sonya - there seems to be quite a few of us from Cheshire here

@Ian Taylor Our kids named our Tigger and there have been quite a few derivatives over the years, TiggyWiggy, Tigs, The Tigster
Deepest, darkest Lancashire sounds mysterious haha, my mum is originally a Lancashire lass

 

After a little research (yes my brian hurts now) it would seem most of the UK is Zone 9, because usually our winters temps don't dip below -6.5C, does that sound right? Hopefully someone who knows will confirm this for me.

 

British weather is so diverse there's no point in having climate zones.