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Garden Links, Inspiration & New Friends

The other night I was looking through one of my Garden Links after posting my Bloom Day post. One garden link led to another and then WOW I was looking at a post that had me speechless! I have to add here that I am not often lost for words as those who know me would agree.

I scrolled up and down looking at the fantastic range of photos, made a comment and then was compelled to send an email. I have emailed all my links and in a short time have come to see many as friends. There is wonderful growing community of ‘Gardening Bloggers’ with a wide range of gardens, plants and experience. I only have a few Garden Links and add new ones when I am drawn to them in some way – that’s just the way I do it but everyone is different. I thought it would be nice to introduce my links and I have no doubt they will all inspire others too!

Gotta Garden with its Daylily photographs is what had me speechless. I have kindly been given permission to show the three pictures above which are: Main picture, Patterns in Time; Top right, Laughing Skies and Bottom right, Spacecoast Eye Declare. Thank-you once again, Gotta Garden. If you follow the link you will see, not surprisingly, I had great difficulty in deciding which ones to use. ‘Patterns in time’ had sunshine lighting it and that is why I choose that one. ‘Laughing Skies’ instantly became one of my favourites and ‘Spacecoast Eye Declare’ actually reminded of the Auricula Primula which is often shown in garden show displays here in the UK. This garden is in Stafford, Virginia, USA and has 600 Daylilies and many other plants too. I think it is fantastic when a gardener has a passion for one particular plant and shares that enthusiasm. Gotta Garden – I am now considering buying a Daylilies to grow in posts and I am certain you have inspired many others to grow them too. Well done!

Our Little Corner of Paradise with its wonderful wildlife plantings and ponds I discovered through the comments left on other blogs by ‘Wildlife Gardener’. I enjoy reading through the comments on posts of other blogs – conversation really is at the heart of blogs. This garden caught my interest with its photographs of a wonderful garden for wildlife and the interesting stories that accompanied them. However, it was the additional blog of paintings that drew me to add this one as a link– I had a drawing hand once upon a time and would love to paint watercolours of the plants in my garden too. ‘Wildlife Gardener’ likes to remain anonymous which I completely respect and has a garden somewhere in Scotland. I have absolutely no doubt that if you are interested in gardening for wildlife and would like to have a pond you will find inspiration with a visit to this garden. Wildlife Gardener has also appreciated birds for many years and as I am new to them myself I find her comments very supportive. Gardeners are kind people aren’t they?

May Dreams Gardens is where you will find Carol who came up with the idea of posting photos of flowering plants on a particular day of the month. She organises Garden Bloggers Bloom Day and other days too. Carol posts almost every day about her garden and sometimes of her sister’s too. She grows vegetables as well as flowers and her posts are varied and always interesting. She occasionally asks for suggestions too – encouraging the whole community idea. My reason for adding Carol is different yet again – this time it was the reason behind the title. Carol dreams of the days in May when the garden starts again and as my most favourite month is May too how could I not add her to my list! Carol was my third link. May Dreams Gardens is in Indiana, USA and Carol has many gardening friends and clearly enjoys reaching out for more. Gardeners are friendly people too, aren’t they?

Bliss has the most comments I have seen, so far, on any gardening blog! I wonder if a count has been done on how many times the word blissful is used in them all. It is Yolanda at Bliss that makes Bliss with her very inspiring posts on her garden and occasionally other stuff she just fancies writing about! She has many cats which add much interest – I am not a cat person myself but there seems to be many gardeners who are. What drew me to this blog then? Well, I have to say it was the plants! I loved looking at how Yolanda used them, many were similar to my own, and she clearly loves to experiment with them and so do I. She also has a very inspiring kitchen garden and although I only have some tomatoes, beans and potatoes in pots I still enjoy reading about what she grows. I could say so much about this Blog – I particularly like the thought and detail Yolanda puts into every single post – for example she shows the salad vegetables, she picks from her garden, on a plate set at a table with cutlery etc ready to eat. I like to read the quotes she adds at the end of every post – I have seen this on others too. Yolanda also takes the reader through any projects in her garden with before, during and after photos as she did with her shed makeover – her inspiration just keeps on coming! Bliss is in the Noord Brabant region of the Netherlands and I enjoy exchanging chat about the birds in our gardens as much as the plants – gardeners do like to chat don’t they?

Today in the Garden was my first garden link – I came across this garden in Northern California, USA through my searches for private gardens. We shared the same blogger template and again similar tastes in plants and I found it fascinating to see them growing in a garden so far away from mine. Lisa is an artist and gardener and I loved looking through her work in her other blogs – when she mentioned dabbling with PhotoShop a connection was made and it was then that I decided I would only add links in that way. I loved her use of colour. Again, Lisa has variety in her posts but if you scroll through them you will see that roses are a passion for her. I have to admit I was little tentative when I approached Lisa to exchange links but I thought it was worth a try. I was thrilled when she mailed me back so quickly and when she complimented me on my blog I was delighted. At that time most of my posts were of my visiting birds and although I had feedback from birding sites I wasn’t sure I had enough posts on my plants to approach the gardeners. Gardeners like to share too so I need not have worried.

Following the links on other blogs and sites is a great way of meeting new friends and finding inspiration and I would definitely recommend it! The list above reflects the order I added my links and not any particular preference. I would like to thank all my gardening friends for their comments and links and wish you all Happy Gardening.

Please note that the photographs shown above were taken by Gotta Garden.

13 thoughts on “Garden Links, Inspiration & New Friends

  1. Thank you for the kind words and link! I have to check out a couple of those that I haven’t visited in a while!

    Hope today is a great day in your garden!

  2. Thanks for your kind words Shirl, I appreciate them!

    It is fun to communicate with gardeners all over the world and compare notes, isn’t it? And yes, we are a chatty bunch. 😀

  3. What a sweatheart you are, shirl, to have mentioned my blog in such a kind and thoughtful way, describinbg it so clearly. I am humbled and I thank you most sincerely.

    Since we are into the gardening season, I don’t have as much time to blog as I’d like to at the moment, but when I visit my friends each week, I try to catch up with all of their latest posts so that I am up to date and I’ve not missed something important.

    I will be back later to catch up with yours…:)

  4. I am delighted to hear from you all.

    Carol – you are welcome. Yes, there isn’t always time to get round all the ones you’d like to. This afternoon and evening were lovely in my garden – I even got the grass cut!

    Yolanda – you are welcome too. It’s nice to be appreciated. Yes, it is fun and chatting to gardeners is great wherever they live!

    Wildlife Gardener – you are also welcome. Phew…… I hoped I had an accurate description. Yes, choosing between writing about the garden and getting out into it – there isn’t time to both just now is there? As you say, it is nice to catch up on the latest posts when we have time to browse.

  5. Hey Shirl…this is fabulous! I do appreciate the thoughtful writing! Thank you! Thanks also for the link!

    It is fun getting to know fellow gardeners around the globe! We’ll be talking…

  6. Gotta Garden- you are very welcome. I am thoroughly enjoying meeting ‘new’ gardeners like yourself and I too look forward to further chats in the future!

  7. tootsiewootsie
    WG back again…this time to write about your posts, as it’s catching up time for me again.

    Re bullfinches. We tend to see them mainly in autumn when there are a lot of seedheads in the garden. I grow teasels and circiums especially for them. They also love the forget-me-not seeds too. So, a tidy garden, where all the spent flowers are cut down deprives birds of potential food. I keep the ‘untidy look’ for as long as possible.

    I wondered if your unnamed rose is veilchenblau, because it is thornless and has a similar appearance.

    I love your photos with the bees in action, gathering pollen. Without them, and the pollination from many insects too, of course, we would not have gardens. I love the way the wildlife brings our gardens to life.

    Your garden is blessed with beautiful colour, and has a wide variety of plants to attract wildlife…and that camera of yours doesn’t miss a trick.

    Congratulations to you, shirl, on your splendid garden …and thanks for taking the time and trouble to mention mine. You are a sweetheart:)

    I’ve just posted a little video of a thunderstorm…did you have one yesterday?

  8. oops! was spelling out the name of my first pet cat to my husband…didn’t realise I’d typed it! Sorry, shirl!

  9. Wildllife Gardener, lol, no worries

    Thanks for the info on the bullfinch I will look out for it then. It is a tricky balance keeping untidy plants when your garden is small. I try to wait as long as I can bear it before I cut down plants not just for the birds but also as they have such a mystical beauty with their seed heads in frost with spiders webs etc. This autumn I will have my camera and look forward to seeing what I can capture.

    Thanks – I don’t believe that is the name of my rose. I will recognise the name when I see it – I think there are two words. I cannot believe I have mislaid the label, I only bought it last year and I am certain I put it in one of these ‘safe’ places!

    Thank-you, I am now really enjoying capturing the wildlife with my plants and look out for it – in particular the bees. I am now looking forward to capturing the butterflies now too as they have started to visit my catmint and will soon be able to enjoy my small buddleia and eventually my verbena Bonariensis which they love. Yes, as you say they bring life to a garden and it just wouldn’t be the same with out them especially in a small space. I would imagine it must be wonderful for people who only have balconies with a few pots to have wildlife like bees, butterflies and birds visit.

    Thank-you too, for all your kind comments.

    We didn’t have a thunderstorm but what a lovely idea to capture it on video showing further the mood of the garden with rain on ponds. Unfortunately, back in 2000 we visited Monet’s Garden in Givernay when there was heavy rain – but the lily ponds still had a magic to them with the rain rippling into them!

  10. HI Wildlife Gardener – I have just found my rose label. My rose is Cardinal de Richelieu – I will update my post now. Thanks 🙂

  11. Hi Shirl,

    Thanks so much for your mention (I’m always running a little slow!)
    It was through connecting with you and your blog that I became inspired to put some more effort into feeding our local birds– so it tickles me to think that goldfinches in California are eating better because a gardener blogs in Scotland, but that’s the truth of it.

    The internet is indeed a strange and wondrous place, fostering all kinds of delightful connections.
    Thanks again!

  12. Hi again, Lisa

    You are welcome. Yes, in this case the internet opened up opportunities for goldfinches!

    It made my day to read your comment that I inspired you to feed the birds. I still experiment with foods and feeders and more and more species are visiting my garden. I have been taking lots of photos now too. I find now it is as much a delight looking out for new visitors as it is a new flower opening! What a lovely place our gardens can be.

    I thank-you once again for being my first link and helping to connect me to other gardeners – I am thoroughly enjoying the journey.

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