- Joined
- Jul 13, 2013
- Messages
- 292
- Reaction score
- 94
Hello everyone, my name is Laura and I'm an addict. It's been about 30 minutes since my last plant fix 
I currently live in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, but I spent the majority of my life in Western Canada - Edmonton, Alberta until I turned 18 and could get the heck outta there, and British Columbia - West Coast and the Okanagan.
I've been fascinated with gardens since I was a kid. We always had a kitchen garden in the back yard of our house in the city. My Mom grew up on a farm, and my Grandma in Saskatchewan had a big garden, a real cellar, and the most fascinating sunroom built on to her house, where she overwintered all her favorite plants. And I can still vividly remember my visit to Butchart Gardens with my parents when I was a kid - I didn't want to leave. But I have rarely had a garden in my adult life, due to moving around a lot, and living in many areas where gardening is very challenging (Norman Wells, NWT; Grande Cache, Alberta).
We moved into our current house in the spring of 2012, and after trying (unsuccessfully!) to grow vegetables in the existing garden, and to resuscitate the grass in our front yard, I decided that drastic measures were called for. So last summer we removed all the grass from the front, and put in a raised flower bed with a low stone wall, river stone paths, and L-shaped privacy terraces around a stone patio for climbing roses. We then put in a 15' x 5' raised vegetable bed in the back yard. By the time we finished, it was too late to do anything but plant bulbs and roots for this year. So I spent the winter starting seedlings (with mixed success) and falling in love with terrarium gardening.
This summer, both gardens are growing like crazy, our deck and front porch are covered with potted plants, and I've created another huge bed in the back for a wildflower garden next year, and I have earned the moniker "the crazy plant lady" from by husband and kids
My realistic dream is to have a bigger yard and build a big green house. My unrealistic dream is to build a 2-story conservatory with a glass roof, tropical plants, and little birds flying around, somewhat like Queen Elizabeth Conservatory in Vancouver.
I currently live in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, but I spent the majority of my life in Western Canada - Edmonton, Alberta until I turned 18 and could get the heck outta there, and British Columbia - West Coast and the Okanagan.
I've been fascinated with gardens since I was a kid. We always had a kitchen garden in the back yard of our house in the city. My Mom grew up on a farm, and my Grandma in Saskatchewan had a big garden, a real cellar, and the most fascinating sunroom built on to her house, where she overwintered all her favorite plants. And I can still vividly remember my visit to Butchart Gardens with my parents when I was a kid - I didn't want to leave. But I have rarely had a garden in my adult life, due to moving around a lot, and living in many areas where gardening is very challenging (Norman Wells, NWT; Grande Cache, Alberta).
We moved into our current house in the spring of 2012, and after trying (unsuccessfully!) to grow vegetables in the existing garden, and to resuscitate the grass in our front yard, I decided that drastic measures were called for. So last summer we removed all the grass from the front, and put in a raised flower bed with a low stone wall, river stone paths, and L-shaped privacy terraces around a stone patio for climbing roses. We then put in a 15' x 5' raised vegetable bed in the back yard. By the time we finished, it was too late to do anything but plant bulbs and roots for this year. So I spent the winter starting seedlings (with mixed success) and falling in love with terrarium gardening.
This summer, both gardens are growing like crazy, our deck and front porch are covered with potted plants, and I've created another huge bed in the back for a wildflower garden next year, and I have earned the moniker "the crazy plant lady" from by husband and kids
My realistic dream is to have a bigger yard and build a big green house. My unrealistic dream is to build a 2-story conservatory with a glass roof, tropical plants, and little birds flying around, somewhat like Queen Elizabeth Conservatory in Vancouver.
