Leone's Profile

An ex-pat from Surrey, where I was born, bred and educated, I retired in 2004 and in 2006 moved to lovely NW Cumbria, twelve miles from Carlisle, and can see Skiddaw in England and Criffel in Scotland from my house, as well as extensive views across the fells. Twenty minutes' drive to the Lakes, to the sea, and to a small and in places lovely city: so the best of all worlds! But I am finding it difficult to meet people, so do any other GOY addicts live nearby?

My garden is probably a bit too large for me, and I am slowly de-suburbanising it, so increasing the maintenance factor. Despite what most people think, the weather is very often better up here than the south, and I have just put out my olives (in bud) which I over-wintered in a frost-free place, but my grape vines and kiwi stayed outside and survived the frosts and snow. Wind is the major problem, but my garden covers all points of the compass and phases of the sun. I am still discovering what grows well, and dahlias are very robust, as are the dandelions! But my three attempts to grow myrtle have failed, and I have had three replies from GOY members, thank you, so hope next time I'll be lucky! The one beautiful flower I have never been able to grow at any of my homes in Hertfordshire, Surrey and Cumbria, despite my following the instructions, is lily of the valley; my paternal grandparents had them growing through concrete!

By the way, my maternal grandparents owned florist shops in Norbury, exhibited at the Ideal Home Exhibition yearly, and started up Interflora, so it's in the blood. After many years of working long hours, when my gardening was done at the weekends if the weather allowed - and I don't do sun, I just did a lot of pots: red geraniums in the summer and daffodils in the winter - plus a bay tree, of course, by the front door.