Melissa,

I do know of a selfish gardener...actually he is a landscaper. Here's an example... He knew of a place that was getting rid of a lot of mulch...basically bring your truck and you could take it. He got as much as he needed/wanted, then, waited until the mulch was all gone before he told me about it. Oh well.. I'm the opposite.

Robert

PS. I do like your motto. I almost insist any gardener, new to my yard, goes home with some token plant. I have developed a pot ghetto (aka Connie's driveway gardening) just for this purpose.

Stop by and visit, and leave with a rose or something.

Robert

You are so right Melissa. I am constantly foisting plants and ideas on my neighbors. Last year I started giving them roses and I'm hoping next spring to assist my neighbor across the street in figuring out what roses will do well in her yard and maybe prepping a couple of spots for that task. Her husband bought her a rose for Mother's Day and it died, I suspect from neglect. I never saw the plant so don't know how strong it was to start with.

There is something about having a passion that makes you want to share it with others. I have given many roses to my MIL over the years and she is keenly aware of each one and when it was given. I can tell they really have meaning for her which is nice. Of course she is getting more for Christmas in the form of a gift certificate.

Kate

I think you are right, majority of gardeners love to share. Similar to Robert, I do know one "greedy" gardener, who always takes anything that is free, but never shares even information. I usually share plants (not just roses) with whoever is willing to accept and in return get a lot of plants, sometimes I never even thought of getting:)
I got many plants from gardenweb friends. Lori and Robert are always very generous. I got figs, daylilies, currants, clematis, seeds , many different perennials and house plants due to generousity of garden friends.
Olga

I think this thought can fit here.
I was just reading the Times on line and one of their columnists is chattering about time being recession proof. Some of the behaviour in that article had me chuckling as being foreign, as if from another planet. Far removed from a life with a garden.
And I think that our style of gardening is recession proof. We don't need the newest rose intros; the old and provens will do just fine. We'll add a few and we won't need a gardener to keep us going. Our sharing isn't a short term thing, but a longer thing- knowing we'll give something that has longevity.

Sharing means more than just a physical giving of a plant.

Here is a link that might be useful: Now we have more sense than money

I give away vegetable plants each year. I always feel like I have to start the entire seed packet, and then there are extras. They are better vegetable gardeners than me, so some years they have brought me the fruits of the plants I started for them!

my neighbor --

i was new to the area and longing for another gardening friend. i noticed that she had the only garden in the neighborhood. so i screwed up my courage, took a plant from my garden and introduced myself. she scoufed at me and practically shoed me off her property. i was heartbroken and didn't reach out to anyone else in the neighborhood.

fast forward five years -- my garden is coming along and making great headway. and who wanders on to my property? you guessed it -- said neighbor. unlike her, i was very nice to her. but not likely to run over and befriend her again . . .

joyce

Joyce! How CRUMMY of her!
I hope that it will turn out that she's really nice, and was under some terrible stress that day.

Jeri

Joyce, really, that is a sad story, and I understand exactly how you felt. Actually, you've reminded me that I have met a selfish gardener, because I had a similar experience here. Since then I've met the gardener in question through mutual acquaintances and she's become quite friendly, but, like you, I don't want to know her. I hope you've met more generous gardeners since then, and had the opportunity to be generous to your neighbors as well. We need to set an example, though, as you see, my generosity doesn't extend to forgiving this person. As a person who believes in forgiveness, at least in theory, I do wonder if I don't have an obligation to forget her initial behavior.

Ann, I read the article and suspect that those folks live at the top of Jack's beanstalk, because I've certainly never known anyone like that: how is it they don't drown in all that stuff? I don't consider our family life simple, but it's not bad by Western standards, and I do make an effort to keep the confusion within bounds. We have a happy, thriving family life and a lot of contact with people, animals, and plants.

Melissa

Yes sure know of a primo selfish garden ... back way back when I was starting and before roses, I had a bald area were only a shade plant would grow. My neighbour had her garden loaded and choked full of a ground cover plant with variegated leaves that sure looked like it would do well. Asked here if I could have one plant, she said "no". Years later I got the same plant from my brother and brought it all the way back from Ontario ... later found out it was the invasive "can't remember the name of the thing" that right up there with "death nettle" and "obedient plant" ... you can't kill it if you try ... no she was not doing me a favour she was just selfish.

I can think of a woman who was most ungracious who owned a garden but in my opinion was not a gardener. So I don't know any selfish gardeners.
About the "uphill": In my garden all the amendments and materials go downhill and all the cleanup must go uphill. I guess it all evens out in the end!

I will correct myself about not knowing anyone who is a bit stingy that likes to garden. In Spring of 2007 I wanted to grow some catnip for my plants and the woman who lives in the rental next door said I could have some of hers. It was growing wild on one side of her yard. The patch she had was insane! Small children could go missing there. When I turned up with my shovel to get some of the plant she pulled out exactly one tiny sprig and said here you go! I thought she was joking but she wasn't. I thought she would break the thing just handing it to me it was so small.

As it turns out catnip is so aggressive that pathetic sprig grew into a great plant that I grow now in our veggie garden. It dies down to the ground every winter and then grows back so it stays in check. My kitty Bligh loves it.

{{gwi:326680}}

So the neighbor did right by me but I nearly died when I saw what she was giving me:) People are funny I suppose.

Kate

jeri and Melissa I'd like to add that I am the exact opposite of that gardener -- as most gardners are (witness the kind people on this forum). I have given away literally hundreds of plants. I garden for the joy of it and often have more plants than I know what to do with. sadly, no one near me (with that one exception) is a gardener -- maybe it's because we're in a drought?

but i'm with you melissa, i'm going to keep spreading gardening cheer and change the world (or at least my little pocket) one plant at a time! :-)

happy holidays all -- meet you all in the garden next year! ;-)

One of the things I love about Mme Legras de St Germain is how easy she is to root from the tip. I gave my sister two of them, and this past year was such a good growth year with so many canes getting so long, that I plan to peg a whole circle of newbies around her asap this spring - by late summer they will be ready to pot up and give away.

And my rugosa Hansa (?) suckers generously - it's my "new baby" gift rose when needed.

I have never actually run into a real gardener who was selfish, rather the opposite. I have a neighbor friend who is the only real gardener (by which I mean personally hands on, and slightly obsessed) close to my house, and we are constantly giving each other plants - even though we both have the same problem, namely "no more space"! Large pots have been proliferating along the edges of our patios & driveways...

Every time I try to root roses I have extras, but the most plants I seem to have to give away are Iris, every 4-5 years when I get around to separating them. I usually end up by throwing many of them on our green debris pile, where of course some of them root and grow happily!

I have had some luck even with my non-gardening neighbors, getting them to get their "gardeners" to put in plants that are suitable to our climate, like Mediterranean bulbs like sparaxis, instead of tulips which do not return.

I did notice that when we moved in and planted a large area (half a block long by about 10 feet wide) out by the street that had been gravel with ground cover roses, many of our neighbors' front gardens got a lot more planted and pretty over the next 12 months. It's catching! So, we can spread the joy of having pretty gardens by example sometimes, which is neat.

Kate -
Your "Kitty Bligh loves it" - and I love your Kitty Bligh! Adorable!

I hope you are not offended by

'Nil illegitimi carborundum' (Don't let the b*st*rds get you down).

I have a neighbour who loves to toute her 'native' garden, but every time I have gone by to seek advice, she has been 'busy'. Bad timing. Perhaps...

Steve.

Organic_tosca:

Thank you! Pretty handsome for someone with only one eye I think:) He does very well though for viewing the world from that perspective however. He dearly loves that plant and when you can't find Bligh anywhere in the garden one must only glance toward the catnip plant and if it is moving every so gently he is probably stretched out behind it nibbling.

Kate

Wow..some of these stories are awful. I'm the opposite; I have so many plants to give away that some of my neighbors have started running when I get out the shovel. I tote plants to church and am helping rejuvenate my pastor's garden with all my extra daylilies and perennials. They grow so fast and need yearly division.

Don't understand why folks are so selfish and stingy...it feels good to share and talk plants. I love garden visitors.
-terri

I remember looking at some beautiful plantings through an iron gate once in Villa Park. I was just admiring the combinations from the walkway. A lady came out and I asked her nicely if she planted them/ what were the different plants. She went in and got her dogs who ran up snarling to the gate. It's not the first time somebody living behind a big wall was unfriendly to me.

Most gardeners are so nice. I try to keep a few things potted up to share. Especially the uncommon things that don't show up at the Home Depot or Lowe's.

One lady saw me admiring her Cecile Brunner covered rail fence. When I told her the name, she was so happy that she gave me a tour of the front and back. She bought the house because she loved the gardens but didn't know what any of the roses were. The most recent rose seemed to be a hybrid tea from the mid 80's. She had some impressive trellised climbers on the back wall and a huge lady banks on her freestanding garage. I'll never forget how nice she was to me- just a stranger passing by.

How lucky you are to have neighbors who garden. I'm the only one in my area with a garden and if I stop to admire people's plantings there's a 50% chance they'll run me off or call the cops. The other 50% have been very nice, invited me in, and shown off everything with pride.