Where does your love of gardening come from?

Fond memories SK. My love of gardening comes from my parents, they grow food and flowers in our garden. I loved it as my dad and mum took time to teach me about growing and let me help. The chickens were my responsibility. It seemed to me that my parents were happy in the garden and had more time for us too. Nothing like their potatoes, veg, fruit, and eggs. Nothing was ever wasted if we could not eat it when ready it was bottled, jammed or swapped and of course added to the compost when finished. My parents are with me in my gardens.

Thats lovely Drc, it just shows i think if we show our children our love of gardening with a bit of luck it'll rub off on them :o)

Yes I agree, when they get their own home they remember a lot from years back.

Definately from my mother.
I remember shadowing my mother whenever she was in the garden when i was a young child, it's amazing what stays with you from that young age.
It was when i was older that i realised it was from her that my own interest was borne.

Enjoyed your blog very much, SK. No green fingers have come to the fore in my ancestry research! My mother loved flowers and had a pretty little garden but not until we had all left home! I have only gardened with enthusiasm since 1989 when I became 'single' again and could do what I liked!! My friends late husband was my mentor and taught me so much as well as providing me with plants that he grew from cuttings, etc. He was a true plantsman with extensive knowledge and a wonderful, dry sense of humour :) Happy memories.

Lovely blog, Sk, interesting reading the comments too. I had no interest in gardening until we bought our first house with a small garden, and clearly remember planting Tulips at the base of a Conifer hedge and then being so disappointed when nothing appeared! We learn from our mistakes. My maternal grandfather was a gardener on a large country estate, but he passed away before my love of gardening surfaced. Oh, what I probably could have learned from him! My paternal grandfather loved growing fruit & veg, he used to say "Well, you can't eat flowers!" but Granny had a lovely cottage-style flower border which she looked after. : o ))

Re: myself. I come from a farmers family in Cyprus. I remember helping my father in the fields from the age of five.
We used to grow nearly everything the family needed.
Here some vegetables and many tender plants are difficult to grow due to the cooler conditions, but every time I succeed I get much more satisfaction and the real feeling of an achievement.
I hope to upload some pictures of my garden when at its best.

Great blog SK. Isn't it lovely to find out where your roots lie?
I'd have to say my love of gardening came from my maternal grandfather, Albert Edward Hatfield. He had a lovely garden and could grow anything. A very deep green thumb. I'm sure my love of wallflowers and sweetpeas comes from the days of seeing and smelling all of his. Neither of my parents were particularly good at or interested in gardening.
I grew up a city girl until I moved onto the farm in 2000. I felt immediately at home and comfortable with the animals and fields. It was a couple of years later that I found out that my Dad's side of the family were farmers for literally 100's of years. I guess things like that are bred into your blood. Just like your sewing and gardening. :o)

My love of gardening comes from my maternal grandfather too-- dahlias were his passion and I remember when the 'baby masquerade' rose came out he would nip bits off to root( and they always did!)-- he called them slippings, he worked as a gardener for a 'big house'

I get it from my Dad's mother mainly. She used to buy me plants and give me cuttings.
Every time we took her to the glasshouses in a Swansea park both she and I came back to the car with our pockets full of stolen cuttings lol and we would swap.
Dad used to tell us before going in "if you get caught stealing cuttings don't blame me" lol. We took no notice of him ! Gran would just give a loud 'tut' as if to say don't waste your breath :o)
I still have a few house plants that were hers.
No other relations liked the garden as much as us two :)

have enjoyed reading your replies, everyone is different but mostly someone in the family had a love of gardening at sometime, very interesting.

I forgot to say, Sk, my sister detests gardening but, like yourself, loves sewing, something I loathe! She makes curtains & blinds, I wouldn't know where to start ... lol!

My father is a farmer and it's almost certain that's where I get my passion for all things 'soil' from.
When I bought my first house, I was adamant that it should be a house, not a flat, as outside space was very important to me. Moving into a small town after spending my entire life in the country, I felt a needed to retain a sense of 'country' in my life.
My first home had a lovely garden which was mostly grass and flowering shrubs, things that I could find hard to kill :)
Now we've progressed into our 'family' home, emphasis has moved into providing for us, growing things that we can eat as well as beautiful flowers to appreciate.
I am morphing into my dad ........ :)

Mine came from my mother. Her garden was tiny but crammed with allsorts, including a row of gooseberry bushes which I used to raid all July! I tried hard to pass my love on to my kids without any apparent success, until suddenly at the age of 38 the younger one has become very keen, bought a greenhouse, redesigned his front garden - there's no stopping him. The older one suddenly gave up his well paid computer job, went back to uni, got a masters in ecology and goes out doing newt surveys, learning plant names, batwatching - something must have sunk in, just taken a long time to come to fruition!

I didn't take up my Dad's mantle until he died! He used to try, all through my childhood years, to instill a love of gardening in me, but I resisted! I always loved the countryside and wild flowers but dug my heels in firmly when it came to the garden. But, strangely, after he passed on I suddenly developed a need to get elbow deep in compost and to learn about things that grow and found that little memories had stored themselves at the back of my brain and, when I needed a bit of knowledge about a plant, there would be the answer! It was as though my Dad was answering my questions. One of the nicest compliments I received about my gardening 'skills' was after I'd brought my mother to live with us in a new house with just lawn as a garden and, a few (hard-working) years later, she said 'you've made this garden a lovely place to sit in.'

wot lovely comments bt gardening ............. my mum loved her garden , so i guess i got it from her ................. but my dads family are farmers in cyprus !!! didn't do much gardening till i got my own house tho , and def more into it since being on here .............. have learnt so much on here !!! its wud have bin my mums birthday to day , and have been in the garden decking out all the plants that remind me of her!!! she loved margarites so grandmadge very kindly sent me some , and i now have 3 lerbenims trees cos she had one lol , plus a lovely rose named after her .;o))))