Hello from Chorley in Lancashire where I have gardened for the past eighteen years. Prior to that we were in Nottingham a very dry area .My garden is about 20 miles from the sea and sits on top of the first hill in from the coast at about 300ft. This creates a micro climate and although it is a mild area, apart from this winter, I get a lot of SW gales and it rains most days of the year. I grow lots of bulbs with my main collection being crocus and cyclamen but masses of other hardy ones. I have recently increased my collection of lilies and hardy orchids. Because of the wet these are grown in glasshouses and frames and even there the constant humidity is a challenge. On the other hand it gives me a real benefit when growing some of the more demanding subjects requiring cool moist air.
Although I dislike actual gardening I really enjoy the results. My wife is as keen and more knowledgeable than me in the garden, by this I mean she enjoys weeding and she can remember the plant names, and our interests are perennials woodland plants trees and shrubs, in other words anything which will grow with us.
We both enjoy travel and have been to most of the European mountains and we travel to the USA each year looking at plants. In addition I have been to Turkey (twenty times) Greece (fifteen times) and Chile. We both think nothing is better than seeing a plant in its natural habitat.