Inkognito, by all means, say what you wish to say. Do not hold it in. I would like to know about my inaccuracies. Intelligent, confident people are perfectly willing to carry on a debate. I wanted to be provocative which is why I introduced my post the way I did. I sometimes try to shake things up a little bit here in the ye olde gardenweb forums because it can be pretty boring sometimes. At times I exaggerated to make my point. Also I was really breezing along and maybe not formulating my ideas as well as I might have wanted to. The only inaccuracy I thought might exist, after writing it BUT before seeing your post, is that I've read that some parts of New England have colonial stone walls. I see from your profile you are from Canada. I presume there are some in Eastern Canada too. Sure, but they cannot be as prevalent on this continent as they are on the British Isles and parts of France. Are there chateaux in France whose front facade is lined with white birches planted 10 ft away from the foundation, that I don't know about? Do some Americans return from winter vacations in the subtropics or southern California and say "all those plants that don't lose their leaves - hideous!" Are there vast stretches of UK suburbia landscaped with nothing but syringas, peonies and Scots Pine? Nary a Cordyline or Fuchsia magellanica in sight? (I KNOW they aren't dumb enough to plant giant american sugar maples on a 1/5 acre lots there, so I was trying to think of an equivalently run-of-the-mill tree for them) Please...share your thoughts! I really wish when I visited the UK in the mid 90s there had been digicams so I could have photographed 100s of residential gardens to prove my point, but I didn't. I spent more time in Edinburgh and I remember walking down streets and spending an hour on one block just surveying new-to-me rare and beautiful plants in people's gardens. I remember seeing Morinas. I remember seeing those exotic lilies like Nomocharis or the other genus whose name escapes me. Obviously I saw meconopsis. I remember artful combinations of Euphorbias and some kind of campion or lychnis. Often not a weed in sight for a whole block - and in the ditches the beautiful Himalayan Impatiens grew as weeds! If it's any "consolation" I fully realize that culture is dying, even there, I would not be surprised if in a couple generations time the British are no more a nation of gardeners than we are. FWIW, I'll also say that a non-gardening friend of mine who visited Dublin said she was absolutely blown away by the quality of people's residential gardens there compared to anywhere in the US she'd been. Not that she knew the specific plants, just that they were lovely and well-kept.

Mollie, thanks for getting back and I find it quite charming that you think I must be young but honesty makes me admit to being fairly long-in-the-tooth and, though slightly less old than cars and phones, when I was born Churchill was PM, Roosevelt US Pres. and Hitler still causing trouble world-wide. OK maybe I'm being rather hard on Thirkell, Pym et al and I can understand why Americans enjoy reading about the English countryside, our 'quaint' tea-drinking customs and our presumed charming manners .. . although that requires a great leap of faith these days . . .! Yes, we certainly have plenty of history. The physical sort, buildings, monuments, landscapes are, at last, being recognised for what they are and our 'Planners' are less keen on pulling things down just because they are 'old'. The other sort of history . . .studying the past, appreciating our heritage is another matter. Many young people have little understanding of what or who 'made' this country, for good or ill, what it is today, a fault that should surely be laid at the door of the politicians/educators; often the same thing these days. I suppose I do the same when I read books by US authors. I have always enjoyed the work of Anne Tyler and although I know some of her female characters can be rather 'samey' I find I look beyond the story-line and am taking in the scenes of everyday US/Baltimore life. The minutiae "Isn't dinner eaten early in the US" "American teenagers are very much like British kids". That sort of thing. I remember my late Mother reading Tom Sawyer to us as children and loving that 'small town' feeling (and didn't it dominate Hollywood movies with the picket fences and white-spired churches), then not long ago on TV I saw the old Mississippi river town of, I think, Cairo and was so disappointed to see it gradually collapsing in on itself and wondering if the US shouldn't be doing more to save its history before it is too late. Sorry everyone, if this sounds very pompous and long-winded. ;-)

Rosefolly and Colleen, we grow black, red and white currants in our veggie garden and certainly the birds will eat them given half a chance. If we have enough we turn the reds into jelly, traditionally served with roast lamb/mutton or jugged-hare. We generally freeze them 'whole' and add them to apple sauce (from our own cooking apples) which is reheated and added to cereal at breakfast. A few berries eaten raw as part of a fruit salad are fine, but they need cooking as the taste can be too strong. Our area used to be a prime location for blackcurrant growing, part of a Govt scheme to provided vitamin C for children from the late 1930's run by the company Ribena. As children we used to love this stuff. It came in a bottle of concentrated fruit juice which had to be 'watered down'. Good taken in hot water for winter colds etc. Now is tastes nothing like the original and is more like 'pop' with a horrible metallic, chemically enriched flavour. The company, along with many others producing 'soft drinks' has been forced to lower the sugar levels following Govt 'advice' about obesity Ribena Info . .. pretty pics but may contain adverts!

James Lane Allen, another name on my yet to read reading list. It get' longer and longer. I like Rebecca West's quotes. the wrench in today's line-up is Stalin and yet he has things to say which should warn us.