What does Southern mean in your UK context?

South UK, I live near Stonehenge which is a very ancient monument for druid worship
Salisbury is the City

Hello, Blicky - you're an hour away from me along the A36. The majority of people on this site are in the US. That's why I hang around - their conditions and methods are so different from ours. Makes it more interesting for me than UK sites which just tell me what I already know.

Welcome and hello, Bicky.
We love Flora here. She is an old timer here and also very knowledgeable gardener and a master gardener at her own right, in my opinion.

As Flora pointed out, we, the US gardener are a very diverse bunch, with diverse climates and gardening experience.

Hello Blicky,
I'm a Canadian gardener. Our winters are long and frigid, but the period from late spring to early autumn is very similar to yours in terms of temperatures (albeit with a wider range). Typically, our growing season can see temperatures ranging from 0 C to 35 C, with frost rare, but not unprecedented, at any time in the summer. Because we have lots of sunshine, it's actually easier to grow tomatoes and peppers here than I imagine it would be in the UK. On the flip side, you can enjoy fresh greens grown in a cold frame in February, whereas we would be lucky to have that on May 1st.

Howdy Blicky!

I live in the coastal northeast, probably in a region with the closest climate to southern England - summers are hotter and winters colder but not as much so as most other regions of north america. This island was one of the first places to be settled by the English, only a couple decades after the Mayflower.

Flora, what are some hopping UK sites? Cuz those could be interesting for us colonials....

Welcome Blicky,
I'm fairly new here too and I garden in Canada (Ontario) in a community garden - concentrate on vegetables - mostly for winter storage, but do grow some flowers for attracting bees and cutting. I like to experiment with vegetables that are not so common for my region - peanuts and sweet potatoes this year.

Mo317, how did those two crops turn out?

Slimy_Okra,
I had a fairly good crop of sweet potatoes from about 12 plants and I did get some peanuts - more than a couple of handfuls. The spring was long, wet and cold which I don't think helped either crop as they need a fairly long hot growing season. I will try both again next year.

Sorry, pn - I don't know what a hopping site is. Something like this?

Believe it or not GW and the BBC are about the only sites I visit regularly. Apart from Googling stuff for quick info.

Here is a link that might be useful: Hopping site.

Flora, "hopping" means very active, as opposed to some of the GW sites which are nearly comotose. I'll check out your link....

That was funny, BTW....

Regarding the subject of Anglo-american gardening forums, of which this one is about the most mixed that we know of (and not very diverse, at that), it reminded me of a spanish-speaking gardening forum I check in on now and then, and I am always struck by the huge amount of interaction between the Spanish Colonials and the Continentals. There does not seem to be the kind of stand-offishness that often exists (seemingly to me) between the various kinds of english-speakers.

I lead a sheltered life pn - I only really follow GW so I've never come across the standoffishness you mention - unless it's me and I don't realise it. Regarding Hispanophone forums I've not been on any but I've visited Costa Rica and Peru and found when speaking to local people that not much love is lost between them and the former colonists, so I'm pleased to hear they're chummy on line.

Maybe it's just that there is no such forum for english-speakers (opportunity knocks?).

By stand-offish I merely mean that english speakers and northern europeans in general are much more reserved than latin language-speakers, as a generality. In brazilian portuguese they refer to this latter attribute as "calor-humano".

Regarding the situation between Mestizos and the more pure Colonials, yes, I think what you encountered is normal. No doubt what I see on that Spanish forum for the most part is Colonials interacting with Continentals.

I now return y'all to our more sheltered lives and gardens.....

Hi Blicky, and welcome.
I got a grin out of you defining Stonehenge for us. That is actually one of the things they do teach us about :)
Sounds like winter solstice 2012 there was quite a celebration! Cool to live so close.

I enjoyed your blog -- great photos! And very nice greenhouse.

Elisa