I too am very lucky that DH wont put up much of a fuss with all of the gardening stuff I do. I think his biggest complaint is when I ask him to lug all the soil I buy .. he often askes when the next load is arriving.

Yesterday we went out to Canadian Tire .. of course I spoted the Floralight plant stands on sale for 199.00 -- He just rolled his eyes and asked where WE would put it :o) He teases me that he has to grow some leaves on his body to get as much attention as the plants do.

I dont have many garden "nick nacks" but Im sure that will develope over time .. but I seem to be collecting any type of trellis I can get my hands on :o) I purchased two bamboo ladders that I am hopeing to use as trellis' Now to find a spot.

Laura

Dh doesn't have the gardening bug at all,doesn't know a pansey from a petunia,but he appreciates how the garden looks after I've spent weeks and months taking care of it.I never tell him how much I spend od the garden..are you kidding? he'd probally want to cover the entire back and front yards with concrete.Little does he know that most of my money goes into container gardening.
He does grumble a bit when I ask him to carry and dump bags of soil etc for me.I have back problems or else wouldn't even ask him.It's hardly worth it to have to listen to him gripe.

Eliza Ann

Not much, only shoes.

Summer

DH doesn't have any garden blood in him whatsoever, and his only complaint is that I leave things around the yard...
But he's good about helping to dig holes for trees and moving things about and for me that is just fine!

I may not have hidden things from him in the past, but that is not to say I did not declare them to him either!! LOL!!

My DH generally just rolls his eyes and laughs when I bring home new plants. Of course, if I ever did buy something outrageously expensive that we couldn't afford, or it we had to eat KD for a month because I had bought plants, THEN he'd be really upset, but he'd be justified then! Every time we go to HD, he knows I'll be off in the plant section, and I usually come out of it holding a plant in my hands and smiling and batting my eyelashes at him as I ask if I can buy it. =) The answer is almost always yes. He doesn't care for plants himself, but he's really into his reef aquarium, which he spends plenty on, so I guess he can't really tell me 'no' when it comes to plants. Otherwise I might forbid him from buying more fish and corals. =) He does cringe every spring though, when I order bulbs and plants from Botanus, Veseys, seeds from Stokes, and then I want more money for the local garden centres, and maybe this year I need more pots for the balcony, or I want a pond or something. I always tell him that he also gets to enjoy sitting outside on our nice balcony all summer, and he will let me buy what i want, within reason. I did buy the cutest little succulent recently that he doesn't know about yet, so I wonder when he'll notice. =) Good thing he has a good sense of humour. =) Lugging soil is what he really complains about. Seems to be something all our men have in common! =)

Sometimes I hide his golfclubs but he's caught on and is keeping them in his trunk of the car permanently now & the car beeps when the trunk closes so that one is out.

I hide the visa statement and even pretend it never arrived if the Botanus/Lindenburg/Pickering order is alittle over the top in the spring/fall. (It's worth the late fee as the following month doesn't show that evil breakdown of individual expenses)

Don't need to hide any actual new plants as the yard looks like 'Sandford & Son's' as it is, and he never knows what pot is 'incoming' verses 'outgoing' so I'm lucky for that.

Mine is shoes, too. I've gotten so good at putting them in my collection that he never notices. At least, I don't think he does. He no longer, rolls his eyes, says, another pair of shoes, they don't look very practical. lol!!!!!!!!!!!

If it's just the odd plant I come across and purchase, I bring it to work for a while to sit on my desk and Voila! Instant excuse as to where it has come from... Of course, by now he must think that I really work in a greenhouse rather than an office!

When I pick up a bag of bulbs, or corms etc., I hide them in the car until I can sneak them into my "winter potting room" or better yet, into the dirt in the garden! But since I have picked up my best deals at garage sales and hort. society meetings, he's on board with that - who can argue a great deal? (Like my 200 bulbs I picked up last fall for $2!! Finally, we have not only daffs, but tulips, lily of the valley and snowdrops all from that one great buy!) Doesn't it all work out in the end anyway?! LOL

Hehehe, what is it with men and shoes. My hubby says the same thing to me....why do you need "another" pair of black shoes, you already have three! This from someone who has 3 pairs of shoes to his name...sneakers, winter boots and 1 pair of dress shoes!

I can't hide stuff...I am a terrible liar, and I get so excited about something great that I have found that I have to share!

I have 100's of japanese maple seeds in the fridge... she's going to freak when I tell her when I pot them.

LOL! Love the hiding stories. Shoes - guilty. And plants - well sort of. I used to go to the nursery when he was at work and by the time he got home - they were already in the garden. However - here is something even funnier - at least to me.
Our daughter was at Wal-mart on the weekend with her family and her youngest grabbed her hand and literally dragged her into the garden section. He spent quite some amount of time choosing just the right plant for his mommy for Mother's Day (next week), and then spent more time finding just the right bag of soil for planting - "that's the one mom - that's the one that gramma uses", but don't tell grandpa because it's the "spensive" one! Guess I do "hide" some things from him! LOL

I don't hide anything-in fact I drag him into the garden to show off the newest acquistision. Of course, this is a guy who goes out with me in 3' of snow to roll old hydro poles out of the ditch to make into a huge arbour or combs the sideroads with me to haul rocks into the truck with comealongs for the garden. And he built me a greenhouse. He's the greatest..but I deserve him :)

My husband actually has more shoes than I do, so he can't say anything if I buy a pair! Funny thing is, I have way more sandles than actual shoes, and this is Canada! I can only wear them for about 3 months of the year!

I hide some of my gardening, but the one that drives him crazy is Christmas Ordaments. Those I have to sneak into the house, when they magically appear I just tell him they'be been packed away for years. If he only knew lol.
Brenda

I can't hide anything, he's too darn observant, plus he knows all my hiding places. He's great though when I come home with something new, he ususally rolls his eyes or says' NOW, what did you buy?' But then again, he's the ebay addict and he's always finding little things to buy for his habit, our motorcycles! Now, we are expecting a grandchild, one that will be very close by and I have all sorts of little toys, books, etc that I don't think he's found - yet.

Chocolate bars and my Weight Watchers booklet. Seriously though, we've worked out a system that satisfies both of us - the 20% rule. When he buys yet another computer part for yet another computer, he tells me that the part cost 20% less than it really did. Which means, when I've gone overboard on some gardening item, I knock off 20% when he asks me the price. That way, neither of us feels we have to make a stand about it, and we both stifle a grin as we walk away....

For the first couple of summers after we were married, I kept a tray of perennials in my 'staging' area. When I bought more plants, I'd plant the ones in the tray. It worked really well! Now, she is beginning share in my gardening interest. It's so much more fun when you have an appreciate audience but I can't get away with OCD purchasing plants anymore.

I must not be entirely a girl. I don't get the shoe thing. Mine is actually game for just about anything, which is pretty cool. As long as he gets the veggies he wants, it's all good. He just gets peeved when I decide I'm going to put 8 "healthy" indeterminate tomatoe plants in the living room because it's too early to put them outside ;)
Not exactly hiding things!

I have to admitt that I hide the price tags from plants, clothes and shoes, I should say I remove them immediately. Otherwise he may have a heartattack if he saw the totals.

I don't hide too much as he finds out anyway. I do buy plants, I have an addiction and I try to sneak them by, but you know, it is almost an impossible task. I can only manage to do that if he is away and that is hardly ever as he works at home. I do find myself hiding jewellery as he can't understand why I need more than one watch or a bracelet! So I wear them to work for months but not at home and if he does notice, he doesn't say anything, because he knows my addictions. He has his own, so it pretty much works out even. We both know when to stop spending, so that is the important part. My DH is very good humoured about a lot of things, so most of the time he just rolls his eyes.

Between my Scrapbooking and Gardening addictions --- YIKES! --- I've got plenty of things to "hide". OK, I don't really hide them, I just promptly put them into their proper places! LOL

But then HE'S got the computer-parts addiction and his X-Box games and his woodworking hobby.

I'd say we are pretty even!

No, I don't hide anything I purchase for the garden. I just don't usually tell her. The purchases will appear on our credit card statements anyway. Who else in the house would buy something from the likes of Lee Valley Tools, Gardenworks, Art Knapp, Mandeville Nursery, Tropics to Tropics Plants, etc? When I get particularly carried away in any particular month, the numbers will jump up at her and she will give me a reminder about my "generous" purchases.

I get to do whatever I want with my garden because, actually, I've hidden my spouse. We all know what happens to our memories after menopause, so I'm darned if I can remember where I put him!

Happy spring everyone!

I like this conversation!

ladybugontario, did you find him yet?

I also have the $199 Floralight plant stand on order from Canadian Tire. I am tired of 20 plus years of having all the annuals and pot fillers at all the windows all winter long in the house.

Since all purchases go on the MC, it is easy to see where I have shopped recently. But as for prices and maybe spending too much...my DH just goes grocery shopping with me occasionally and is absolutely amazed that that little can cost that much. So...prices of the perennials/bulbs/etc. that I buy don't tell him much. He knows that I'll always try to get the best possible buy.

I justify spending $ on new perennials by having an annual perennial sale at my girlfriend's place in the city. We have 10 acres and lots of room for perennials and I am filling the beds quickly. My DH would rather me have a perennial sale than a "stuff" sale. We are usually sold out in about 2 hours. As for "hiding" perennials...I usually buy them early in the season so that they end up in the greenhouse for the first month or so. The shelves just keep getting fuller and fuller. He usually doesn't say anything. (Until we have company and then...he shows them around the perennial beds...proud of what they look like already.)

ladybug - rotflmao! I'd better not lose my spouse - he's in charge of knowing where I keep all my stuff!

I've got a real knack for finding good deals, so DH rarely grumps at the bills. Besides which, he knows that if he were to complain too much, then he'd get to do the shopping. DH is violently allergic to shopping in any form, so he thinks getting out of it is worth the occasional extra impulse buy on my part. I don't buy things we can't aford anyway, so there's not really anything to complain about.

I just realized I do hide the occasional thing from him! He thinks I have more than enough pots - which is true. But I want *nicer* pots! He has no problem with the occasional nice pot purchase, but I've got over 200 pots! So I legitimately buy a few nice ones every year, and I sneak several more in.

This is going to be an unsolvable problem though. Because everytime I put a plant in a nice pot, I free up an ugly pot - so I think to myself, now that I've got this extra pot, I can get a new plant...

BP

Bonnie .. you should sell your "ugly" pots at your plant sale .. it will give you more cash to purchase that special pot you more than likely already have your eye on :o)

Ladybug .. do I have to wait for menopause to loose my husband LOL .. I keep trying to ditch him but after my many attempts .. he has figured out how to find his way home!! Go figure.

My spouse is recovering from a mental illness. A couple weeks ago I was showing him some flower pics from the Vesey's website. He actually expressed opinion as to wether he liked them or not. He hasn't had much of an opinion on anything in so long that I became very excited and ordered the ones he liked! I kept it under my hat for a few days. When we checked the visa bill he noticed the balance was up again and thought they dinged us again with interest, ect. Then I fessed up and told him of my excitement. We laughed and he said that is fine, he was just relieved it was a purchase (a very modest $24 with shipping) and not service charges. It will be a bit of a "victory" garden when they grow, to celebrate his recovery.

My goodness. A psychologist/marriage counsellor/credit counselor would have a terrible fright reading through these posts -- deception, money/power issues, rampant consumerism. Yikes!

Triple B: strong wishes and prayers for a full recovery and a beautiful garden.

CanGrow - these posts were made with tongue firmly planted in cheek. We are not a deceptive, conniving, or greedy group of people. We are gardeners who love growing and nurturing plants - most of us find it very rewarding to see our hard work bloom beautifully, and most of us have spouses that really do encourage us and appreciate what we make. Sometimes we go a bit overboard, or get a bit silly, but who hasn't done that once or twice.

At the end of a long winter we sometimes need a good laugh and we know we can joke with others that know us and understand our obsession with plants.

I'm sorry that you did not see the humor in these posts, but if you get to know us a bit better, hopefully you will see that your comments are not an accurate description of us.

BP

Hi BP:

I think CanGrow's statement was also very tongue in cheek. Somewhat satirical, my favourite type of humour.

Cheers,
MG

I hide dishes that I buy.I just say I just unpacked them from the basement .lol we moved 2 years ago and thank heaven I still have boxes downstairs. The plants I try to sneak in sometimes cause he is a planner you dont buy before knowing all about the plant and its habits. Also he tends to like families of plants I love a mix . Who cares if I really dont like it out it does the next year.As long as I remember to put the tall ones in the back I am happy. But with all the complaining he does when I get something he will concede the garden is nice and he is happy that I am enjoying it.
He comes from California and could have won prizes for his gardens from the pictures I have seen.

bren

My husband grew up in New York and Arizona where there wasn't a great deal of gardening going on. He is shocked and appalled at how much gardening (soil, fertilizers, plants, etc.) can cost. I used to take him to the nursery with me but I've stopped.

Now he's more than willing to shell out $150 on something like a large tree but if I spend $100 on 8 different items he practically has a panic attack! LOL!

He does love the way the garden is shaping up and as long as I can get my plants in the ground before he sees them he usually quite pleased.

Yvonne

Wow kind of funny. But my DH has more shoes than me. He has the shoe fettish :) At one point he had red shoes (yuck), brown shoes.....
He just rolls his eyes when he comes into the kitchen @ 5am and seeing me potting stuff for WS and the fact that in summer I am out in the yard as soon as it is bright. He does not seem to get it that I love gardening especially when DS is not around and that is the only time since I work fulltime.
He does not mind me buying stuff as I do not spend big amounts on plants. And he tells me what plants he likes and those that look good.

Carrying the soil - your DH's actually do that. Yikes I carry it all myself.

FOrgot, I also hide all the good snacks - especially pistas.
Just last Sunday I bought a big bag of pistas. And just kept leaving a bowl of it out every day. If I had left the bag out it would all be gone Sunday and neither DS or I would have any. I think I am doing him a favor as if he finished it in one sitting it would send his cholestrol skyrocketting ;)

Well, after purchasing my main annuals at the beginning of the season and being told "Now that's all, right?", I find that when I make a new purchase, which is usually once a week, either perennial or annual, I will ensure it is planted before my wife comes home from work. Then when we are walking in the garden I will say, "Hey, look what grew from last year, or, some seed must have blown in". It has worked so far...........Wayne