Let me introduce myself ...

[Anthony Darby]

...or perhaps they have fallen asleep in the forest?

[Maggi Young]

...or perhaps they have fallen asleep in the forest?

Surely not, Anthony, with all your jokes to keep 'em awake?

[Sinchets]

Hello- my name is Simon- a one time member of the SRGC in Aberdeen. I moved back to England to teach, and two and a half years ago moved to Bulgaria to establish a plant nursery- so fulfilling a lifelong dream. Why Bulgaria? Well it was cheap- but then when you get here - wow- why not! A developing alpine garden with mountain views - paradise! We were lucky to find a house with a large plot of land on a south facing slope. The former paddock is now being landscaped into a nursery, alpine gardens, a woodland garden and wildflower meadows. We are also converting the barn, hopefully for holiday lets in the future. The last few years have involved lot of hard work, but this year we are determined to get out into the mountains and explore more - Flora Bulgarica has been teasing us with its list of endemics for far too long

[Anthony Darby]

Welcome and well done Simon. I would love to do the same but don't have the nerve.

[ian mcenery]

Welcome Simon

I look forward to your posts as our correspondent in Bulgaria

[ranunculus]

Welcome Simon

I look forward to your posts as our correspondent in Bulgaria

Do we have a correspondent in Burkina Faso, yet?     Any SRGC members growing alpines in Ouagadougou?   

[Carol Shaw]

two and a half years ago moved to Bulgaria to establish a plant nursery- so fulfilling a lifelong dream. Why Bulgaria? A developing alpine garden with mountain views - paradise! We were lucky to find a house with a large plot of land on a south facing slope. The former paddock is now being landscaped into a nursery, alpine gardens, a woodland garden and wildflower meadows. We are also converting the barn, hopefully for holiday lets in the future;)

Welcome Simon - David & I visited Bulgaria twice a few years ago and really loved it... We've always planned on going back so let us know when you've got your steading converted and we'll book in an instant, alternatively we could come over and give you a hand in the nursery?     

[Sinchets]

Thanks for all the welcomes! Give us another summer and the barn will be ready!

[Maggi Young]

Simon, great to have this update on your "life after Aberdeen" !! I  have a feeling that when you get the barn finished you will have no shortage of visitors 

It is a bold move for you and I wish you every success... and be sure that we want to hear ALL about the progress made with the nursery and barn....

[Sinchets]

Maggi thought this might be interesting to others.
Our house is set in over 4000 m2 of land. This was an overgrazed paddock with the remains of an orchard and a decently built barn. We had some interesting wild flowers in places. We had been thinking about offering the barn for summer lets- we just need to finish converting it! We are quite isolated here so it would be a great place for people who want to get away from it all and explore the woods, hills and mountains, which are in easy access of the house. We have a lot of landscaping work to finish, but the 1ton of plants we dragged across Europe in a trailer seem to be happy enough- well most of them. The bulbs did very well over the first summer and split fantastically. Unfortunately the voles found them last winter and had a feast on the Crocus. They also had a go at some Tulipa and Muscari and moved loads of other things around so much that we now have lots of labels that just say Muscari?, Narcissus?… So hopefully we will get to re-identify many to these soon. A plus side is that we now have one bed full of randomly planted Oxalis brasiliensis and O.obtusa as well as Ranunculus kochii and R.ficariiformis – which should be interesting when they flower! We hope to do more exploring this year in the mountains, with a view to being able to recommend good places to visit for wild flowers. We have had a list of good sites recommended to us, so we shall get up there in the summer when the snows have gone.

[Maggi Young]

Simon, this is so interesting to many of us, whether it is just envy of the scale of the lifestyle change the two of you have taken on to move to a new country to begin a new business, or to hear how you wage war against the voles       Janis Ruksans in Latvia will sympathise with you.... he has more voles than he knows what to do with.... they burrow under the snow and chomp on his bulbs at will 

Perhaps a new forum group of Vole Haters is on the cards? Make a change from the Galanthophiles, though there will be something of a crossover membership, I expect.

My own knowledge of Bulgaria is restricted to a love of the folk music and small glimpses of the country through some TV programmes which show the beauty of the countryside and the possiblility to develop property there..... I tell you many will have be seduced by that thought, but how FAB to actually get out there and DO it! 
Looking at  the photos I can see why you decided to take this plunge......the land looks so rich and fertile..... happy growing possiblities, indeed..... now then, who has a good anti-vole plan??

[maggiepie]

Simon, you look like you have found your own little paradise.
Good luck with the nursery.

[ranunculus]

Don't be cruel, Maggi ... let them go of their own volition!   

[Maggi Young]

Don't be cruel, Maggi ... let them go of their own volition!   

Janis is good to them... he's always giving them tasty snacks in his vole restaurants   

[Carol Shaw]

Simon, out of serious curiosity, where are you in Bulgaria? We spent time in the Pirin and the Rila Mountains when we visited, first time we'd ever seen folk mountaineering in bare feet!