Let me introduce myself ...

[tonyg]

Hello, I'm Tony Goode from Norwich. 
I've been a gardener all my life, Grandad taught me the names of plants almost as soon as I could walk and I've been hooked ever since.  I graduated from annuals to alpines when living in a first floor flat where the plants had to be small, grown as they were on windy ledges!  I especially love bulbs and grow far too many crocuses.  I would like to have more time for growing 'proper' alpines but I find these are best enjoyed in their natural homes.
In other lives I am a full time Dad, work as a shop manager, lecture on alpines and bulbs to any garden club that will listen to me and volunteer on the Talyllyn Railway (in North Wales). So it's no wonder that I never seem to have time to do anything properly!

[dan]

  hi my names Dan Hale.....thar's me with Stonehenge in the background.......I live in East Yorkshire at the minute outside of Tork in a small town....although Im a geordie and have lived in Newcatle most of my life.......my main interest is plants of course.........and I love collecting rare woodland plants and orchids.......I have qite a lot of cypripedium and also grow amongst others....trillium, lillium, hepatica, meconopsis etc etc........so anyone who has discovered something new in that area then please talk to me about it!!!!....

[dan]

 .....thats York btw not Tork!!!!! ha ha i've just read my msg back and there's quite a few spelling mistakes!!!

[Ian Y]

I am Ian Young, I am the SRGC Web Committee Chairman and web team leader, and what a team I have.
I have been interested in plants since I was 11 years old when I got hooked on the Scottish Mountain flora.
Although I am interested in most plants from trees, which I still grow from seed and have far too many of, down to the smallest of alpines my main interest is in bulbs.
I find them fascinating and love to share my passion for them with anyone willing to read or listen.
I write a weekly,
 bulb log      bulb log    bulb log     bulb log
on this site and also love travelling  speaking to groups and infecting them with bulboholicism.
In my spare time I am an artist, I also do some broadcasting and I love playing and listening to music.

[Lesley Cox]

Thank you Maggi, a much younger Martha I think, and great fuel for one of my more outlandish fantasies! I haven't played a piano for 30 years!

Lesley

[John Forrest]

Hi all. My name is John Forrest (could there be a blood line connection to George?)
I used to describe myself as a passionate gardener but what with the ravages of time I’ll have to settle for compulsive. I still have more plants than I can look after properly even though I have reduced my collection substantially in the last few years due to the old joints playing up. My collection of plants is very varied since I have always tried to apply the brakes if I find myself becoming to obsessed with a particular genus or species. Bulbs play a fairly large part in the collection (most notably Trillium, Crocus, Narcissus) as do hardy orchids Dactylorhiza, Cypripediums etc. I have all but given up showing but still enjoy judging and the banter and the buzz at the shows. I live in Blackpool, at least that is my postal address although I live nearer to Poulton le Fylde, an altogether more sedate dwelling than the brash & bawdy seaside town. The Lancaster group I attend is affiliated to both SRGC and AGS and the annual flower show at Blackpool is only a couple of hundred metres away from my front door but is over the boundary in Blackpool. One year the show is run by the SRGC and a Forrest Medal awarded to the best plant whilst the next is AGS rules, with a Farrar Medal.

[annew]

Hello, everyone.
My name is Anne Wright and I live with my husband near York, in Yorkshire, England. We have two children, 20 and 22 years old.
I do some part-time work for the environmental consultancy that my husband works for, and in my spare time, I am a botanical painter, and a lithic illustrator (drawing stone tools). Also, we will soon be getting our first injured bat for rehabilitation.
I have a medium sized garden, which contains everything from fruit and veg to alpines, bulbs, grasses etc. My husband is very keen on ferns, so we have a large collection of those too. We look after the spore exchange for the British Pteridological (fern) Society. My favourites are probably the bulbs, and I have a lot of fun hybridising narcissi just to see what happens!
I enjoy reading everyone's posts on the forum, and no doubt will figure it all out for myself sooner or later, but am floundering a bit so far.

[annew]

Having no success at posting a pic of myself, which is probably just as well....

[annew]

Ahah!

[Staale]

Hello everyone.
My name is Staale Sorensen (or it isn’t really, as my first name is spelled with an a with a ring above it, rather than a pair of a’s, and the o in my sir name comes with a diagonal line - but Scandinavian spelling aside for now).

I have been gardening on my fathers plot since long before I got my own garden. Together with my partner, my plants and I have recently moved to a rather large property (some 11000 sq.m.) close to the biggest lake in Norway, with  a magnificent view (wich I am told it is prohibited to obscure with rigorous and voluminous planting). Lots of work ahead, happily.

I particularly like woodland plants, small AND big, and often find myself as intrigued with foliage and bark as with flowers. Getting alpine doses on a regular basis from this forum, however, is slowly getting to me, and it’s no big guessing that alpines will play more important roles in the garden along the road. Among countless favourites these genuses would be hard to live without; Acer, Sorbus, Rhododendron, Hepatica, Crocus, Colchicum, Meconopsis.

To support my plantaholicness I work in a company producing seed for agricultural uses. When not in the garden (but there also) bird watching is fun.

With some luck a picture will be included.....

[Lesley Cox]

Welcome to the amazing SRGC Forum, Mark 2, Staale. You are among friends and we will look forward to hearing from you and seeing some more Norwegian pictures soon. If for no other reason, this new Forum is great in that some of the previous lurkers have come out into the daylight and become posters.

Anne, a lovely picture of you which I'm so pleased to see. Not nearly so much grey in the hair as with many (most?) of us.

[Gene Mirro]

Hi, I'm Gene Mirro from the magnificent state of Oregon  --- the green, wet northwest corner of the US, which inspired the oft-repeated phrase  "grows only in favored climates such as the Pacific Northwest".  My obsession is species lilies, but I will grow anything that looks or tastes extra-good to me.  I gravitate towards plants that are "difficult" to "impossible", since I love a challenge, and the occasional success allows me to put on airs .  I grow nearly everything from seed, just to make it a bit more interesting.  This forum appeals to me for two reasons:  first, the level of horticultural experience and expertise on display here is unmatched; and second, the website is beautifully put together and easy to use.  I love the plant photos.  Very nice job, SRGC.

Many thanks for your kind words, Gene, delighted to have you with us ! SRGC WebTeam

[John Forrest]

Hi Staale. Thanks for the Norwegian spelling lesson. Unfortunately I can't get my keyboard to make those letters. Is it the same with your keyboard or is it when you are using the internet that it doesn't produce them? I envy you your beautiful Lake view and look forward to seeing pictures in due course.

Welcome also to Gene who like myself has made life difficult by trying to grow the ungrowable. It's a good idea to empty your 'dead label box' frequently to avoid depression setting in.
I am also looking forward to more pictures from you also.

Hi Anne nice to see your picture
Hi Anne nice to see your picture
Hi Anne nice to see your picture     

[Thomas Huber]

Welcome also from me, Staale - and here another lesson in Norwegian spelling.

Press Alt and type 0229 for å
Press Alt and type 0242 for ò   or 0243 for ó

[Staale]

Hopefully my fellow forumists will forgive me for letting this thread turn into a spelling topic.

Sorry Thomas, but your procedure doesn’t seem to work on this keyboard.
However, Our Norwegian keyboards are supplemented with our three extra letters, so I have no problem writing my name, but was afraid it would look a bit odd to use them when most forumist will not be familiar with them. Also I have no idea if they will appear on the forum the way I wrote them, or if they will be altered by the system, but here goes:
 Ståle Sørensen

Oh, and I really must add Trilliums to my favourites. How could I forget them!  And Arisaemas.  And Galanthus. And…