Dear Gardener, "Bloom Where Your Planted"...

The old saying of "bloom where your planted" certainly applies to us, gardeners Jim and Doris McComb. When we took root (pardon the pun) of our first makeover in 1997, our expectation of creating only flower gardens quickly turned into 7 years of continuous projects.

And not all involved flowers.

My Home Page anchors our passion for the flowers aspect but I believe this page also reaffirms the need for additional elements. Fortunate for us, Jim and I melded our talents and dreams into our first beautiful hard and soft scape 'masterpiece.'

By the time we sold our first property, Jim and I loved and encouraged well over 250 different varieties of perennials, roses, trees and shrubs to grow...which they did and still do (I sneak a look every now and again).

Not long after we completed our first makeover, we began searching for rural property. Ahhh yes, build our dream home (or final resting place) and therein by default have additional land.

Our minds worked overtime...dig a larger pond (or two), actually build my very own potting/tool shed and design as many flower beds as my heart desired.

As a child and young adult I had relatively little gardening experience. My maternal grandparents, parents and family arrived from Germany to Canada in 1951. And although my grandmother achieved great success in her large homeland garden with petunias, marigolds, lilac trees and a host of vegetables, her new Canadian lot size allowed for a mere few vegetable rows.

Perhaps flowers existed in my grandmother's small patch, but as I child I was more interested in my uncle Wilfred's caged white mice than anything growing outdoors...that is until they escaped their cage.

Fortunately my parent's tiny urban yard faired better. Living in the inner city and with a lot no bigger than a postage stamp, my parents (in the image above) created a lush coloring of red, white and pink impatiens in their front yard flowerbed.

Along their back stairway, a spectacular show of purple, red and white petunias would cascade over the long and narrow planter.

At the age twenty-two, I quickly and with some embarrassment discovered that you can not grow an impatiens plant from a 'slip' but rather grow the annual from seed or buy a 'flat' at the garden centre.

Here I began my journey.

During the next two decades I dug, weeded, planted, watered and even learned the names of various annuals. Although growing perennials still eluded me, I was slowly warming up to the fact that it might make sense growing a plant that remarkably pops through the clay soil every year (or so we hope).

I enjoyed growing annuals. With all the varieties available and the vibrant, hot colors, I became awe-struck and ergo purchased a flower shop...

I then took a flower design course and became a Certified Floral Designer. All the while I still danced with the idea of expanding my perennial plant knowledge.

It wasn't long before I too laid under the spell of Morden Roses, Jacob's Ladder, Hostas, Astilbes, anything variegated and on and on...mostly learned from trial, error and lots of patience.

Today, I can say that I have been gardening for 35 years and still continue to makeover my flower gardens. Daily, I work on developing my web site in order to share my floral experiences with other gardening enthusiasts.

At first the thought of creating my own web site intimidated me. "I don't know html language,"...I echoed after reviewing a few dozen design sites. However, discovering the SBI! way of building your own web site tore down the barriers of web building for me. I'm still new at this but if you are interested in knowing more about the SBI! way, please go to this My Web site page for additional information.

Remember...Gardeners are always happy to share.

Besides recording my daily outdoor activities on the computer, my hands busily dig in the dirt or dead head the plants morning, noon and at night with my trusty, rusty head-lamp on (most slugs know I'm coming).

I finally created My Fibromyalgia Page for those gardeners out there that suffer from this chronic pain disease. I am a sufferer and have been for the past 35 years. Find out how I cope and the methods I use to relieve the pain thus allowing me to enjoy my gardens.

My three grown children Michael, Stacie and Samantha admire my gardening tenacity and wonder how in heck I can pick off the slimy slugs without gloves on.

Do I have time for much else? I wish I did, especially trips to visit other gardens in far away places. This too shall happen.

I can honestly say that, "Every plant has a place in my heart." I am a gardener. Indeed, my grandmother would have been proud.

I know my parents are...

Thank you for visiting My Gardening and Landscaping Makeover website. Visit often and view the up-to-date garden and landscaping changes. And please share this website with your friends.

Have questions? Comments? Let me know what you think, ok? Please feel free to use the form below and email me.

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