Nancy Eldridge

I have been told that I was born with the “gardening gene”. My parents now in their 8th and 9th decades are active and productive gardeners and a wealth of practical lore and inspiration. I have no formal horticultural training but admit to being an unabashed googler, brain picker and idea pilferer. Walking into a greenhouse is an elemental experience for me. I am at once both calmed and invigorated. I am endlessly fascinated by the variation of colour, detail and texture and energized by all the potential. I appreciate the profusion and variations of classic standbys like geraniums and petunias however I seek the unusual and the striking. My photography skills hearken to the days of the darkroom. I limit my editing to cropping, contrast and colour saturation. I rarely take time to pull out my tripod and set up as shot as I’m usually inspired when I’m puttering around and dirty and find myself tracking into the house to get my camera…leaving a trail of gardening debris of course. What else do you need to know about me? Well…I’m a Zone 8b and my favourite gardening co-conspirator my sister Gayle, is a Zone 7a and lives 400 kilometers away but we don’t let that get in the way. We swap plants, split plants and prowl greenhouses when we get together and often end up planting the same things. Hers grow bigger – mine grow for longer periods of time. We are united in that we love a good gardening deal and we actively look for “red tags” and plants that need a good home. We call ourselves the “Cheap Sisters” and we are proud of it. I hope you enjoy my humble ramblings and I provide some inspiration to snap on a pair of gardening gloves, wear out the knees of your jeans, brave a few spiders in your hair and get blogged down….rather bogged down in your garden!