He says he likes the results, though I know he wouldn't be able to distinguish a cottage garden from a Japanese one.

LOL!

I have a dog who digs up half of what I plant and kills it. I have to shut her in the house when I water or she gets all the water as she tramples the plant to death. She can leap a good 4.5-5 feet in the air trying to grab the water in her mouth. Does that count? She's the anti-gardening dog.

You're getting rain in Texas while we've been going through a long dry hot spell in Washington state?

Jack Russell terrier?

No. :)

Seriously, no. No help, encouragement or appreciation. My sisters live in another state so they may come by once a year and they have to take "the tour". That's it. After 10 minutes of looking around, we change the subject and that's my encouragement for the year.

DH knows I love it and tries not to complain too much about the money - so that helps. But he always points out the weeds, the mistakes, the dead plants, etc. I've given up having that picture perfect garden I dreamed of when I started this. Well, maybe not given up totally. Maybe in another 10 years or so?? It is, after all, a dream....

Gardening and my DH, well, it doesn't turn his crank. He helps me with all the grunt stuff that I can't manage on my own, builds trellis, planters and benches, helps move rock, builds rock walls etc. etc. etc. He waters beds for me and moves sprinklers. Helps wack the roses back and hauls them to the landfill to be composted. He digs holes and plants shrubs for me, he even pulls a few weeds, mind you only the ones I've told him he can, I still remember sending him out to find an Iris buried in the compost or did he fling it in the ditch, can't remember, oh well he found it. And he says gardening doesn't turn his crank, I know, I'm a lucky gal.

He does appreciate the end result though, especially when the garden is full of scent. He now recognizes and knows the names of a lot of the plants, he also brings an attractive plant to my attention when he takes me out to the garden centers, many times he has brought a sprig of something home for me to identify. If anyone asks him if he's a gardener he'll say no my wife is, gardening doesn't turn my crank or words to that effect, is it any wonder I've been married to this guy for more than 50 years.

Annette

Annette, my dear, you are blessed indeed!

No, I get no help other than grunt stuff and then I have to nag a bit (sometimes a lot!). What works best for me (after 48 years with this man) is just pick a time after he has done his morning chores....and say I want you to help me now do whatever. He is not a builder, or handyman by anyone's stretch of the imagination.

As far as appreciation, I sometimes wonder if he even sees it! I do it for me. I do have a few neighbors who compliment me and one dear bicyclist lady who stops and takes pictures. That is just frosting on the cake, I would do it anyway.

I didn't do as much ornamental gardening when the children were still at home, then it was vegetable gardening. They never helped in it. I don't think either have shown any interest in gardening as adults either.

I learned a long time ago that if we did the things we do just for appreciation or compliments, we would be in serious trouble!

So I head out each day and do "my thing" for me alone.

Call me selfish.

glenda

No, not selfish . . . intrinsically motivated! It is nice to have neighbors & passers-by appreciate your efforts, though. I walk my neighborhood pretty regularly and like seeing the gardens that are obviously much loved.

Hollygarden: Sounds like you need a local gardening friend. I'm lucky to have one. We exchange plants and seeds--and advice & encouragement.

Well I am single so my encouragement comes from those that read my blog or here. The appreciation comes from neighbors and strangers that sometimes say nice things as I'm working in the yard as they walk by. Just last week a woman was jogging down the street. She had her headphones on. I was bent over to pull some weeds or look closer at something when I heard a voice yell, "I like your yard!" She kept jogging. I said thanks, but I doubt she heard me.

As for help, nope. I do it all myself. And that's just the way I like it.

"Do you get any help, encouragement, appreciation?"

Help? - yes. Anything that's too big for me to do alone he helps. (Getting the kids to help too! We make a game out of it)

Encouragement? - If by encouragement you mean, "Hey Hon, if we make your flower bed bigger I'll have less grass to mow" - then yes. LOL

Appreciation? - My mom is constantly bringing relatives to my yard to see the flowers. I think that counts!

:)
Friz

DH supports me by making "dirt runs" when I run out. Recently he bought me a 6X8 greenhouse. That's where it ends. My daughter can not even stand to touch dirt, where did she come from???? Hubby will be helping this Fall by removing a Forsythia bush so I can expand my garden. And my friends just think I am nuts but say my yard looks like a park. The dogs do their part by peeing on or walking on my plants. *Note, Pug pee will not kill a Yucca, lol. Perhaps I should let the Newf give it a try.

My husband is a crane operator and works a tremendous number of hours during gardening season. So I wouldn't even dream of asking him to help with his very limited free time. However my father in law, who runs a training school for operating engineers will bring an excavator home when he sees me busting my butt tyring to build a new bed with a wheelbarrow and shovel. He has also brought me loads of rock and topsoil. He is the worlds best Dad-in-law!!
My husband never says a word about the house work I have let slide along with the lack of home made pies and bread in the house while I am in the garden. And he always compliments me on my hard work. He has often held my callused dirt stain hands and said that there was nothing more beautiful than the hands of a hard working woman. But I have to admit that it really burns me when people come over and assume he has build all the beds and rock walls. I just smile and say I'm a lucky gal because I really am!!
I always have the children (ages 2,6&10) in the garden and they each help in their own way. I love sharing my love of nature with them and hope it will make them better global citizens and give them some wonderful childhood memories.
As for appreciation, my garden is not seen by very many people outside my family and friends because we live in the woods and the house can't be seen from the road. I love gardening in my PJ's but wish I could share the garden with more people. I know it means a lot to my family and that means a lot to me!

I will attach a link to my garden pictures if any of you would like to take a look.

Carrie B.

Here is a link that might be useful: Garden pictures

When I was young my mom really loved gardening and none of us kids appreciated it or encouraged her whatsoever. We would be "forced" to work with the stinky manure for the large veggie garden, bored out of our minds at all the nurseries she dragged us to, and my mom was sure I would never want to have my own garden after she made me pull tons of weeds from a rocky area.

When I became a new homeowner I realized veggies from the garden are simply the best, there is no place I'd rather be than at a nursery with my family and pulling weeds is great therapy.

And how I love to garden! Now my mom and I encourage each other. I'm in NH and she in NC so we do it from a distance but have so much fun. We know each others gardens intimately so we can have many LONG discussions on the phone about new beds, etc.

My DH is a great sport about it all. He hears "Blah, Blah, Blah" while my mom and I are gabbing but still realizes how important those conversations are to us. He does a lot of the digging for me and has come up with some very good ideas for design in our garden. Best of all, he NEVER complains about how much money I spend on the yard. It is such an obsession I can hardly control myself! I do wish he could do more of the handy-man stuff, but that is where my dad comes in. Whenever he comes to visit with my mom I am sure to have a nice "project" for him. It's a family affair when it comes to our gardens. Even if a distance away.

Carrie, what a beautiful place to call home! With only 3 years under your belt you've done very well!

When dh & I bought this house 28 years ago we tackled most of the yard work together. His job takes him away from home a lot and through the years I became more independent in the garden. The only thing I don't do is cut the grass with the gasoline mower. I have a reel mower to use when the time between dh's cuttings gets a little long.

After reading some of the above I realize how lucky I am that not only do I get words of appreciation, but also offers of help that more often than not I turn down. He can be a little anal at times, so sometimes it's just easier to do it myself, lol. He does turn the compost for me and we tackle other projects together like fence install/repair. Like Carrie, I've experienced some of the same mistaken assumptions from others. That's ok. WE know who did what, lol.

DH helps whenever I ask but I don't ask to help me weed...that wouldn't be in my best interest or the interest of the plants. Sometimes he helps too much, I was extending a bed recently and had ordered lots of dirt for it. We spent the afternoon moving wheelbarrows of dirt into the garden and he kept adding more dirt (almost needed a ladder to get up to the garden). I finally got it all leveled off and was pretty pleased. He was up early the next morning and when I got up he was leaving to play golf. I went out on the deck to have my coffee and when I looked out at the garden I "what the heck". The dear guy didn't think he was finished moving dirt (there was some left to make a new bed) and he ever so kindly added about another 10 wheel barrows of dirt while I was still sleeping. I spent the rest of the morning moving that dirt out of the garden and using it to fill in other beds and start my new bed. I still haven't told him what I did, didn't want to make him feel bad for all his hard work. Yes, he does help even when I least expect it LOL. He never complains when I buy new plants and quite often asks questions. He is also supportive and shares my excitement when things happen in the garden such as my first hummer of the season (he even looks for him now). I guess he figures I don't mind if he golfs so he doesn't mind if I garden.

My kids love to help me plant seeds. They also love to pick raspberries and boysenberries in the summer. This year was the first time we got peaches off of our peach tree. The birds also appreciated the ripe berries and peaches. However, we have enough to share and they do take care of the bugs nicely so I won't complain. My indoor cat appreciates the four o'clocks that I let self seed by the living room window. They attract hummingbirds and she gets very excited watching them...I have to admit that I do too.
My hubby is vaugely aware that we have a garden. Occasionally, he will come out back and comment on how nice everything is and ask me when I got that pretty "new" plant. My response is usually something like..."Uhh...that's been there for about four years now dear."
Sigh.
At least he is excited about putting in the patio...he gets to work with power tools and heavy equipment.
~Melissa

My DH has never gardened before and has recently announced he'd like to learn. A few weeks ago he spent 6 hours PAINSTAKINGLY turning over a new garden area, smashing out every clump of clay into soil and planting 60 corn plants! It was amazing. He's slow and very careful - I'm very excited that he wants to learn to garden!!!

Well, like Token, I am single, so no DH or SO to help, or to complain. It's OK by me, till I start moving the really big pots of tropicals. The neighbours smile and wave now, and I've had a few nice comments. Most of the encouragement I get comes from here, and my non-gardener friends worry about my 'on-line' friends. lol.

Nancy.

DH does all the mowing, which is considerable. I've learned exactly what to do to keep prized plants from being cut down. He's learned that a piece of rebar will dull a mower, so stay away. Some of my beds are compromised, to make mowing easier.

Anything that I can't do by hand, he'll help me figure out a way to do it with engineering and/or machinery. We put together a HF Greenhouse complete with electricity and running water, after I presented all the options for garden structures where I could grow plants. He showed me how to reinforce the joints of my stick house using safety wire and it is still standing. He notices: "Did you know there are roses blooming in front of the tractor shed?" Uh, yes, I had noticed.

He waters the edibles, like figs and grapes. He's made watering easier for me by providing multiple water outlets throughout and extensions for inground faucets.

We're in the midst of edging badly overgrown driveways -- 600 running feet, two sides. The worst part is, I want to be the supervisor and so does he, LOL. We work a while, change into dry clothes and rest, and go back out into the gnats, heat and humidity. If we're lucky, it rains and we can stop for the day. I think it will take 5 more days at the rate we're going.

I never expected to be looking back on nearly 50 years together, so soon! Scarred and calloused, we persist.

Nell

Our neighbors compliment more than family. My DH only does the heavy lifting that I can't do any more. After I have brought home a car load of new finds, I will jump up and down on the shovel for a while and get nowhere. Then, I do beg him to come out to dig holes for me and he never complains. Oceania, my dogs (mother and son rescued two years ago)also do the unplanting of or sitting in and on much of what I plant, so I won't be posting pix any time soon, alas. Well, maybe of the pups surrounded by crushed green stuff-LOL. One of my favorite quotations is from Charles Barr: "The best way to get real enjoyment out of the garden is to put on a wide straw hat, hold a little trowel in one hand and a cool drink in the other, and tell the man where to dig." DH doesn't think that's funny...

Help - My dh helps with heavy work like digging up the edge for new sections, and he builds my boxes for the veggie garden. Every so often, he will help with something else, but he knows that he doesn't dare do anything without my guidance, so mainly he just stays out of my way, lol.

Dd claims that she helps me in her garden, but most of it is "magical" help by bringing over a leaf to "help the plants grow." Adorable, but not actually helpful, lol! She has worked with me on the design of her section, and we have been discussing next year's plan for her section quite a bit. But, I know I'll be doing 99% of the labor!

Ds helps every so often - but on his own terms, lol. He needs to be heavily supervised, since he usually prefers to dig in areas that I wanted to stay lawn. ;)

Encouragement and appreciation - those I do get, especially this year! It's been a fun year in the garden, because it finally is coming together. Dh made a point of telling me how much he is really enjoying it, and dd loves going out and seeing what is blooming. Visitors are shocked, especially since the front has, well, nothing. ;) (I'm hoping to change that next year, however!)

Jack Russell terrier?

Close. Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier. I've had great Wheatens for over 25 years but this one is a total bonehead. But yeah, I could see that with a JRT too.

Oceania, my dogs (mother and son rescued two years ago)also do the unplanting of or sitting in and on much of what I plant, so I won't be posting pix any time soon, alas.

Cyn, I think it's funny! You have my sympathy about the dogs, It's especially aggravating when you're on a tight budget and you spring for something special, and work hard to get it planted properly and come out later to find it torn into sticks and scattered about. Those are the times that try the patience of a saint. I have gotten some help (no guarantees) from sprinkling the pepper deer deterrent stuff around. I put up a makeshift fence and she had a blast tearing that down too. Grrr!

"Do you get any help, encouragement, appreciation?"

Good heavens, no! My husband never offers to help with anything regarding gardening. While I would like it if he offered help with digging sometimes, I would NOT like it if he wanted to 'help' me make decisions about what and where to plant. I love being the only one who makes those decisions. And about the question of other people encouraging or appreciating what I've done in the garden, not usually. Most of my gardening is done in the back yard and is not visible from the street. But, I'm convinced it is (mostly) other dedicated gardeners who really appreciate our accomplishments in that regard.

Vicki

"Uhh...that's been there for about four years now dear." Sounds like me . . . usually referring to something he walks past every day, twice a day.

I have to laugh about the help you all get from your dogs. This is the kind of assistance I get from the cats:

Treelover...cool black cat :):) Reminds me of mine. Love it when they relax like that.

This is my first year of doing a cottage garden. We have been here almost a year. Got the garden beds ready for planting in April/May. I have been gardening for many years in California and even in Pahrump, Nevada (yup-in the desert)...but this area was new to me. My dh is from Minnesota and I'm from so. California..and where we're at we have four regular seasons. But, after all of my researching what plants will do well in our area...then the endless digging and conditioning the soil, buying plants and other stuff, finally planting, then weeding,etc..it's looking good out there! We also put in a white picket fence in front of the house too. My dh couldn't see how it would really look out there but after it was all done...he loved the look! He just told me the other day that he loves looking at my gardens now...it is so colorful! I am looking forward to next spring when it should all come back and come in nicer then this year!! My fingers are crossed.
I love all of the help and tons of great information given here! Lurking and posting is fun. Especially love looking at everyone's beautiful garden photos. I need to get my dh to show me how to post photos on here!

Becky

Treelover, pretty kitty! I don't have cats. But I once bought a catnip plant I intended to use for tea. I set it in the patio and went inside. A half hour later my BF came in and said, "um... there's a cat in the patio making love to your catnip plant." He was right. The plant was totally broken and destroyed. I never tried to grow catnip again.

Maybe those of you with the helpful and encouraging husbands need to share husband-training tips with the gals whose hubbies won't help or encourage?

Did you say assistance from a cat? LOL - One of mine (who actually is now an inside cat) used to make friends with moles/voles - whatever little critter was out there in the woods - He wouldn't even hurt a chameleon.. weird cat but lovable:

Carrie

Treelover - I love that pic - it looks like my Ozzy!!

This is the full-size more mature version:
{{gwi:659914}}
Nicademus, my hunter cat!

Cheers, Nancy

My DH is like Annette's, or Nell's. He will help me with anything, and I usually only have to mention that "I wish we had...." or "It would be nice to have a ...." and he busts his britches getting it done. As a rule.....

He does not complain about what I spend on the garden, but he does pay attention to my garden budget. That makes me careful to not bust it. I am just happy I have a garden budget!

I would not trade him. He can do anything, and he is very easily pacified with a power tool, or a new dodad for his motorcycle(s) or his shop.

The neighbors are very aware of what goes on here. We live on a corner, and people will drive by to see what we are doing. DH wants huge hedges, so people cannot see into our yard, but it doesn't bother me. The UPS man cannot always find me, and if he ask about he by name, some people might not know me. But if he ask about that lady with all the plants, everyone knows who he is talking about. I guess that is good.....not sure. lol

My cat will do that when she is big, I bet.
My dog does not dig. I don't know why, but she is very good about that.

Janie

Carrie: How funny! I think that's a vole . . . a well-fed vole. I also had a black cat who loved everyone, till he died of old age a few years ago; we called him the welcoming committee.

Nicademus looks like a sweetheart, too. This seems to have morphed into a lazy black cat thread.

Janie: We're on a corner, too, of a fairly busy street. It's disconcerting to run into people I've never met who recognize me from seeing me working out in the yard.

DH never used to be interested in gardening, but this year that's changing. He will lift the heavy things and dig holes but will not weed. Probably just as well. He's come home just in the last couple of weeks with gardening things he's picked up at yard sales, including a great garden journal and stone edging material. He doesn't know the names of many plants but is quick to invent very plausible sounding latin names. Just yesterday he asked me if I had decided where I want the new astillbe plant. He calls it astillbe-my-heart. When I was lamenting about how small everything is this year, he said very kindly "but the weeds are nice and tall." He meant it as a compliment. Everyone's a comedian.

That picture of Nicademus is way too funny. How relaxed he is - mine has never slept like that.. too cute

Carrie

Carrie, I think that may be one of the cutest animal pictures I have ever seen!! All very cute cats. I am allergic to them, unfortunately. =(

Natal, Thank you so much for your sweet words. We really love it here.

Carrie B.

My DH only tends the vegetable garden. His philosophy is "If you can't eat it, why bother planting it!" Needless to say, he will help to spread mulch, that's about it. But, I don't get out of the vegetable garden work. To make it worth my while, I planted a bed of zinnias this summer in the vegetable garden and it looks great, just really starting to take off. I explained to him that the flowers attract the bees to help with pollinating the other plants. He is very encouraging, just not very helpful.

"astillbe-my-heart" - too cute!

My DH will help whenever I ask. He does all the heavy lifting, mowing, and tilling. This summer he's building a garden house for me.

He has absolutely no clue about plants tho. In fact many years ago when I was very busy with my new business he weeded the garden for me. That was the year a lot of my perennials did not return! He's doing better now as we wait til the plants and weeds are large enough to ID.

The only plants he's really interested in are trees and he's bot some and transplanted some from the back-40. He also like sunflowers and has always transplanted seedlings the birds "sow". I don't complain about wherever he chooses to plant these. They have a "cottage" look wherever they are.

He's really good about cutting the edges of the lawn/beds every spring. He also helps with the compost (walks out every day and dumps the kitchen container and picks up UCG and veggie trimmings at the store) but doesn't believe in layering it or turning it. That's OK, I can do that when necessary.

All in all my DH is the best garden helper I could have. He often says how nice the garden looks even when I am despairing over how far from my plan it is. I can do anything I want and he doesn't question it. He knows I'm not going to overspend on plants.

We're both retired now which makes a lot of things easier.

I want to say for the record that my husband is extremely helpful, encouraging and appreciative of my gardening. That is a blessing. He helps dig, build, water, install fountains, etc. He gets bags of mulch, free compost or mulch, or sawdust from work, stops on his way home sometimes to get for me and then helps unload etc. Will turn the compost, etc.
Also my mom who is near 80 lives in south MS and I live in north MS, we visit each other several times a year, go to garden centers, help each other and admire each others gardens. In fact I just got back from a visit there, she sent me home with a yellow KO rose.
My neighbors are not too enthusiastic but do admire and give compliments at times. Where I'm from (coastal Louisiana) all the neighbors gardened. We would trade, admire, encourage, have a beer or wine together at the end of a long gardening day. That was a joy and I sure do miss having gardening friends right over the fence.
Laurie

I must say, this is one of the most entertaining threads I've read on here. I think this one struck a cord because many of us seek out this site to post photos, get encouragement and appreciation.
So far, no men have posted!! My SH (right?...I'm not hip to all of the abreviations, but I'm talking about my wife...)is pretty un-interested in the whole gardening thing. When people hear that I do gardening and she does not, they immediately ask "So what types of vegetables do you grow?" Um... one tomato plant and ummmm...well I moved my rasberries this year to make room for Dahlias, and my sweet peas are done blooming now; so I guess I grow peas. Apparently, it's not normal for a 30 yr old male to get into gardening flowers. That's ok. My SH only asks that I have lots of flowers to cut, and she loves zinnias. Over time, her interest in the garden has grown, but her interest in gardening has not. We go to garden tours and visit the arberetum and she's started to be able to recognize the names of plants. Anyway, thought I'd throw in a male perspetive.

DH is not interested in gardening at all, but is happy to eat all the tomatoes I am growing. In spite of the tomatoes, he'd pave the entire yard in blacktop to prevent having to mow, if he could.

He gets very fidgety if I start breaking out the power tools. I know the best way to pry him away from the TV is to turn on the electric drill. "What are you doing? Here, let me do it." Doesn't matter if I've used it a dozen times before; he's still worried about either me or the drill, I'm not sure which.

He says he does enjoy me enjoying the garden. He'll glance up from the game to see me pass by the window, plant dangling from one hand, one glove off, smear of mud on my forehead, muttering to myself. Makes him smile.

Help with the garden? He'd really rather not, but can be cajoled into helping, especially if it involves heavy machinery. When I need to rip out an old shrub, I dig around it as much as I can to loosen the soil, then call in the DH to tie a tow rope around the base of the shrub and rip it out with the car. Beats me digging it out by hand.

Oh, his favorite garden flower is the Sarah Van Fleet rose next to the window. It's got frilly, fragrant pink flowers, but what he likes best is its huge thorns. Lots of them. Like barbed wire. He figures that's one window that's safe from intruders.

Lois in PA

Seems like most of us who have posted here are lucky gals. Only one guy?

honnat: I agree . . .it is frustrating when people assume things because of your gender. But surely a 30-yo male who grows flowers doesn't have to be considered abnormal. Exceptional, perhaps, but still within the range of what's normal. BTW (by the way) DH stands for Dear Husband. I can't figure out what SH would stand for . . .

Here is a link that might be useful: internet acronyms

I think SH means "Sweetheart".

Token is male, too, so that doubles our male answers :)

Laurie in La, you reminded me of when I was first married and had gardening neighbors. One lived behind me and one to the north side. I always enjoyed visiting over the fence with them. We live out in the country now and I am amazed at how few people garden or have flowers. One lady neary does and I often think of just stopping and knocking on her door and introducing myself....maybe take her some daylilies or iris. I see her out working in the beds and feel we would have to have at least that in common.

Yes, that is what is so wonderful here....we get appreciation from kindred spirits!

I don't want to leave the impression that I am married all these years to an ogre! He will pull out stumps with the tractor, used the post hole digger (on the tractor) to dig if I have several to do.

The good thing about his not being too involved is:

It is mine!
I get no input, good or bad.
He doesn't pay any attention to what I spend on it.

That's good enough for me.

A Senior Gardener married a lot of years.

As the name implies, I have 3 dogs (and 1 husband :) The hubby will dig holes if I request, but otherwise stays away from the garden at my request. He likes the way things look but doesn't really compliment me on it. That is OK because I give myself enough satisfaction just walking around in the garden and working on it/planning. The hardest part is mulching, which is backbreaking, but I do it anyway.
The 2 older dogs are pretty good with the garden now, but the 6 month old English Lab puppy just tramples stuff when he needs to make a "shortcut" to get somewhere. He also likes to prune things - alot. I had a mandevilla I got at Lowe's on clearance for 4$ in early summer and had nursed it back to health, only to one day see it missing from the place I had it waiting to be planted. I looked around the yard only to see the pot it was in, shredded, and pieces of the plant strewn around the yard. I guess he forced me to plant it, and he even teased out the root ball for me :) It looks great now and he has not messed with it since it was planted.
At any rate, I enjoy being the "gardener" in the family and my in-laws look to me for advice on planting their own yards, so I take that as a compliment. I'm sure if my mom lived close to me she would really enjoy my gardens as she is a kindred soul.

well I have been twice blessed - was married 38years to my wonderful late husband who would do anything I wanted him to as far as grunt work went, let me spend within reason and always had a compliment on a job well done but he wasn't hands on like me. My now wonderful husband of 4 years is my garden soulmate - we work side by side out there every day although he gravitates to the veggie side and me the flowers but we share jobs equally where and when needed - we both feel comfortable in any of the many gardens we have. He does all the heavy work - my wheelbarrel full of weeds gets magically emptied when my back is turned, garden hoses show up on the ground beside me and when I just stand and stare he will come up behind me and put his arms around me and say "you're thinking again - what gardens are you planning now". I really could not have it any better........

Lynne

2 of my 3 helpers after a hard day

Throw in another HH comment here (hairy husband):). My DW
("Dear Wife"?) Helps in very significant ways. Her job does not require as much time away from home as mine, and adult Dd does most of the housework, so DW does most of the mowing.
She also does much of the front flower bed. I also take her advice and consent, especially on the front yard which highly visible, and she has specific ideas about what does not work. She does not like volunteers in front, e.g. the bull thistle which I let grow right out front our first year here. I have repented.
Also some interesting "weeds" she pulled from the front bed three years running, I finally rescued one from the compost last summer, stuck it in a pot. It's moonflower. She has repented. Does anyone know, could there still be dormant seed in that pot? The moonflower is all. So this year she allowed a volunteer out frontside where an evergreen is planned. Nice foliage plant. Last week I Identified it as pokeweed. I have repented (not really), but next year I have to get her that tree for that spot. She really appreciates all that I do and I appreciate back.
The grand d's are wide eyed about all nature, flowers, vegetables and weeds, and want to "help". Which I oblige. The Jack Russell really helps with encouragement (can we go outside and play daddy?), and she eats grubs that I find and grasshoppers. Too bad the japanese beetles are too prickly to eat. Sorry to go on and on, but getting away from 42-60 hours of my vocation per week, this garden is as close to heaven as....my back door. The appreciation...let's give it up: Thank You LORD for all your gifts!

Duane

I'm the DH and don't get a lot of help. Sometimes the family won't complain when I feed them stuff from the garden. Strangers have been nice. I'm on a corner lot and have been creating a bed along my fence. This year the hollyhocks and delphiniums are getting compliments. It is encouraging when someone stops there car to say they like the garden.

PS. It must be a cottage garden -- I didn't plan it; I just planted what I had.

Duane, your post made me smile (somewhat lopsidedly as I have just gotten home from the dentist). Funny and sweet!

Cynthia