Memories of Gardeners--New or Experienced

[Biggles]

I am in the process of 'writing' a book (or trying to) on "Memories of Gardeners" to include any anidotes and memories they may have which would be of interest
Since reading owdboggy's reply on "my very first garden thread"- it made me think that there maybe many many more stories to tell--to the ones I have already included up till now!
Thanks in advance---

[Plocket]

Well I don't think my memories will be any good to you, but my gardening "memories" are of my paternal grandmother and my maternal grandmother. Both were amazing gardeners for different reasons: my grandma was a botanist and my grandfather and the most fantastic ability to plan ahead. I'll bore the pants off anyone wanting more details ;D ;D ;D

[Shrubrose]

Go on then Plocket. ;D

[Biggles]

plocket said:

Well I don't think my memories will be any good to you, but my gardening "memories" are of my paternal grandmother and my maternal grandmother. Both were amazing gardeners for different reasons: my grandma was a botanist and my grandfather and the most fantastic ability to plan ahead. I'll bore the pants off anyone wanting more details ;D ;D ;D

Those are the momories I would like to hear--

[Plocket]

Crumbs where to start?

Whenever we visited gardens my grandma used to nip cuttings for her garden - naughty I know but she was a botanist!!! ;D She used to have a huge magnolia tree two thirds of the way up the garden which sort of hid the vegetable patch. She hated it because of the huge petals on her grass. She was the one who really talked to me about flowers, and told me their names. It was an incredibly neat and tidy garden, and not so much a garden to look at as a whole, but more of a specimen garden. You had to walk around to see the amazing plants she had. She particularly liked streptocarpus and whenever I see them I always think of her. She was the first to show me how to propogate, and it was with an African violet. They were the first plants I grew probably.

I can remember the garden my grandpa had when I was a little girl - it was huge and overlooked a field that used to have horses in it. Unfortunately the only gap in the hedge was behind the compost heap, probably because the horses were trying to get at the stuff on the top, but guess where I had to stand to see them!!! His garden was mostly made up of plants, and narrow paths of grass used to meander around making the garden seem even larger, and such a great place to run around in. I can remember being allowed into the huge netted cages of soft fruit with grandpa, and him carefully untangling birds that had got caught. And I can remember podding peas on the rotten bench that encircled an appletree - we used to eat more than went into the pot! And the barn always used to smell of apples because he stored them in there, in great wooden boxes. Grandpa used to have a press (goodness knows where it is now!) and used to squish all sorts of fruits for wine. The first tree I ever climbed was in grandpa's "Blund" garden, and it was probably the first tree I fell out of too!

When I was about ten my grandfather moved to another village and had a much smaller garden, but still a reasonable size by today's standards. He had the most wonderful rose trellis which stretched the length of the garden, and he must have had about thirty different roses climbing on it. He created a tiny little grotto for my grandmother (not the botanist!) who liked ferns - it was like looking at a little fairy world. When he first moved into the cottage with grandma I guess he would have been in his early 70s and most of the garden was literally covered in wild strawberries - nothing else grew at all. But only a few years on it was a glorious haven - he must have worked so hard. From memory he liked semperviviums, aquilegias and white heather. And many other plants too of course!

Although I didn't realise it at the time, I learned so much about gardening from my grandparents - I just wish they knew before they died.

[Plocket]

That's just reminded me - mum went back to the house they lived in in Derby a number of years ago, and dared to knock on the door to ask if she could see the garden. She remembered grandpa planting it when she was a girl (probably about 10 or 12) and wanted to see whether it had changed. It had hardly changed a bit but had matured considerably 50 years on, but what impressed mum the most was that grandpa must have had a gift for designing gardens, otherwise this one would have been altered over the years.

[Weeterrier]

I don't have any really old memories, Biggles. I am the first person (Mmmm only person) in my family to be interested in gardening.
One memory I do have was, when I was in primary schooll, my friend and I were overawed by a beautiful climbing rose on one of the side walls of a house near the school. Every day, we stopped to gaze at it. But were horrified one day when the lady of the house came up the path towards us. We thought we were going to be told off for staring, but she asked if we would each like a bunch of roses to take home.
This doesn't seem like much, but where I spent my early years flowers were few and far between. That is why the rose bush was so special.

[Rosefriend]

Garden memories - well not quite sure really. The first memories that I have as far as gardening are concerned were at my paternal grandmothers. She had a very neat front garden and a very neat first half of her back garden (got ants in my pants as a young thing - remember jumping up and down and screaming and everybody laughing) and then at the back of the back garden was the treasure garden.................

The first treasure was a dustbin full of rhubarb - oh boy was that dustbin wonderful - it was like pandora's box for me - there was always more rhubarb - it never seemed to stop....

Further on were the apple trees and pears and plums trees etc and what a wonderful orchard it was. Grandma used to tell me to go and fetch a couple of "cookers" so I am assuming there were Bramleys or some kind of cooking apple there.

Then came the berries - ooh all sorts of things, - blackcurrant, raspberries, blackberries, gooseberries - I hated gooseberries and I still do but she used them all to bake the most wonderful pies and make the most gorgeous jams.

I think the worst day was the Rhubarb knife day - a terrible day that had my grandma in tears and my mother wondering into what kind of family she had married into.

My grandmother was so superstitious and as many housewives, (including myself) she had favourite knives for favourite jobs. This day she dropped the "rhubarb" knife and the "plum" knife. Well there was no way that she was going to pick them up - it was very bad luck - so she left them there until the next day when my Mum and Dad appeared and picked them up - by then the fruit wasn't at it's best and she cried and threw it away.

Good heavens I had forgotten half of that until I started - lovely memories....... I think that is where I started becoming interested in growing things - I have never had room for fruit trees so I suppose I took the "flower route" and have never regretted it.

Are you sure you want all of this Biggles - don't fall asleep at the PC will you.

RF