<<Hi Diane
Interesting to hear your story - and you raise an important characteristic of
the Britains Floral Garden range - it has immense educational/therapeutic
potential. I'm teaching/research faculty at a University here in Texas (I'm
actually from UK) and involved in environmental education - and I wish this toy
was still available for students of all ages! Even with my own children
collection I have a special box of floral garden that they can play with on
special occasions. and its amazing to watch what they can do.>>

Hi Mark,
Thanks for the welcome and thank you for your comment about my email being
interesting when I thought I was rabbiting on :-D

I don't think people think far enough today, they don't seem to be capable of
sitting and fiddling, being inventive and keeping themselves amused for hours
with a few bits like we had to when we were children.

One of my favourite pastimes was playing with my mum's tin full of buttons when
it was raining and we couldn't play outside.


I don't make my garden up to a set pattern, in as much as I might plant flowers
in the hedge bases and trees in the flower beds. It's not what you have it's
what you do with it.
The broken plants and bricks can be used for compost heaps or wheelbarrow loads
.... or stuck in Blue Tack in hedge bases or walls.

The Floral Garden was a marvelous toy and it has managed to survive the tests of
time and lifestyle because it was so adaptable.
I wonder why nobody has taken on making a new range of Garden toys? Do they
think it wouldn't sell or what??
They could even design an electronic version and you could have all the plants
growing .... and you'd have to do the weeding as well LOL!!


<<I'm presently compiling an extended database of the floral garden range - I
was interested to hear about the britains buildings - cottage? - I hope you can
post photos of your collection when you get a chance.
Welcome to the group
Mark>>

The Britains "Cottage" is a plastic sectional building named "Meadow Farm" ....
I don't think it was made especially for the Floral Garden range. I think it was
part of the Britains farm range.

Can we post picture to this group? .... what are the rules about attachments?

If I am allowed to post a photo the only garden ones I have were taken some time
in 2005 when I only had enough to fill a 4ft x 2ft board. I have loads more
Floral Garden now but no pictures of it set up. I can't set it up until I know
my pup won't eat it.

Last time it was set up my husband threw a ball indoors for the dogs and it
bounced on to the Floral Garden set up. All the garden bounced up about 2 inches
into the air and thumped back down on the table.

It bounced a little brown bird from my bird table on to the floor. It took us 4
hrs to find the bird in the carpet!!

Regards
Diane