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I garden in northern lower Michigan so my gardening season is not as long as I would like it to be. (I grew up in Florida so Im spoiled.) I live on 10 acres--half wooded, half open field. Gardening is a real challenge here. Its a constant battle with the deer and other varmints and the unexpected (middle of summer) frosts. Not to mentioned the rose chafers that love to devour my roses.
I have approx. 100+ different roses in my garden--old, shrub & rugosa, etc. Many of my old roses were grown from cuttings of roses from old area cemeteries. I have close to 20 different ones that Ive found within 35 miles of my home.
I also enjoy growing plants from seed and swapping seeds. Until recently I was a member of many gardening societies and participated in their seed exchanges. Its so much fun getting seed from all over the world.
I am a soapmaker and enjoy using herbs from my garden in the soap that I make. Ive used calendula, sunflowers, lemon balm, sweetgrass, lavender, comfrey and others.
I enjoy collecting variegated plants too. I have a very pretty variegated perennial Rudbeckia that was a self sown seedling in my sons flowerbed.