Looking Back and Looking Ahead

First Bluebonnet of 2009

2009 was an interesting year for me, personally and in the garden. I spent much of the year looking for a paycheck and also trying to figure out where my future lay. For the first time ever though, I found more of my time focused on one of the real joys in my life - gardening.

Blogging and Writing
Wow, I did not anticipate, when I started blogging in the summer of 2008, that I would get so into it. Granted, I don't actually blog as much as I'd like to and I don't get to read as many blogs as I'd like to. But boy has it been fun. I attended the garden blogger's Spring Fling in Chicago, not really knowing what I would take away from it but knowing I'd see some great gardens. It was SO MUCH MORE than great gardens. Getting to meet some of the bloggers and really connect with some was such a highlight. Reading their blogs now is like chatting with a friend.

Cindy, Beth, and Pam at Chicago Botanic Garden

Over the year I picked up a few pass-around awards and then was surprised to see Blotanical subscribers award my blog Best Louisiana Blog. And then to find out that Horticulture picked my blog for one of their Top 20 garden blogs. Well it was almost too much.

I have been writing the newsletter for our farmers' market this past year. That effort combined with my blogging confirmed that I wanted to pursue more writing so I am happy to say that I have almost completed my first article for a garden magazine, scheduled to come out in June (I'll let you know about that when it happens).

Learning and Sharing
In 2009 I decided to pursue a Louisiana Master Gardener certification. In order to retain your certification you must contribute hours to other efforts, mostly ones that benefit the community. Our class decided to update a garden bed in a local park as a teaching tool on butterfly and bird gardening. Although it was a group effort, I designed the planting plan, learned how best to measure a garden bed from my friend Alexis, and learned how to stay patient when the fall rains wouldn't quit!

Kathy and Virginia busy planting the butterfly garden

I gave a talk at a local nursery about butterfly and bird gardening and plan to give another talk in March on perennials. I started a garden coaching business but it's growing VERY slowly.

I worked part time in a nursery, learning more about the plants that folks in this area prefer and hopefully sharing some of my knowledge of different plants with them.

I managed to visit several public gardens that were great (and some outstanding). Here's some links to posts I did about them: Wildwood Gardens in Little Rock, Chanticleer Garden in Pennsylvania here and here, Chicago Botanical Garden, and Briarwood Garden in north Louisiana. And here's some great private gardens I visited: Layanee's Ledge and Gardens in Rhode Island and Rick Bayless's garden in Chicago.

I also learned a lot more about photography through the Gardening Gone Wild photo challenges and hints from my photgrapher brother Brian.

The Gardening
Well, the gardening was frugal but fun. The successes? Finding some plants that are more native to the area.

Viburnum obovatum ‘Mrs Schiller’s Delight’

I also managed to plant and even grow some favorite plants from my past gardening experience (by travelling back to Texas to buy them!).

Malvaviscus drummondii, 'Turks Cap'

I was also finally able to attract some much wanted butterflies to the yard.

Monarch and Coneflower

The failures in the yard in 2009 include very few fall tomatoes, mis-labeled daylilies from the big box store, a rose that grew way out of its normal bounds and on to the driveway (The Fairy), and the inability to find any plants in this area in the fall that weren't pansies, snaps, or mums.

Although there's not much I can do about it, the rather strange weather was a bit much - first, no spring rains; then too much spring rain; then August temperatures and drought in June and July; then June-like weather in August and September; then 40 days and 40 nights of rain; then early freezes. Hmm.

Looking Ahead
Now what? What will 2010 bring? Well I hope it brings me more garden blogging friends, more opportunities to pursue my writing, more garden coaching clients, more learning opportunities, perhaps a steady paycheck, and a chance to grow into my full potential as a person.

This post was written by Jean McWeeney for my blog Dig, Grow, Compost, Blog. Copyright 2009. Please contact me for permission to copy, reproduce, scrape, etc.

Autumnal Honor and Surprise

I offer you this plate of Louisiana satsumas in humble gratitude. I was so shocked to find out that Horticulture magazine has included my blog in their list of their favorite top 20 garden blogs. There are some great blogs on the list that I'm already familiar with, and some new ones to me that I want to visit. They can all be found by clicking through from the Horticulture store website or right here. Some of my favorites are not listed, which surprises me. But I guess it really shouldn't as we all have certain ideas about what we want to see in a garden blog. And a list is just a list; you can't list them all! You can see some of my favorites in the sidebar on the right.

What really amazes me about this honor is that I think Horticulture was the first garden magazine I subscribed to, probably a couple of decades ago. (Although I'd been gardening before that, I couldn't afford any magazine subscriptions til then!) Who would have thought that my initial forays into gardening (with the magazine's help) would eventually lead to me journaling my gardening thoughts in cyberspace? Amazing.

July GBBD and One Year Blogiversary

Gosh, where do I start? As you probably know, it's Garden Bloggers Bloom Day, started by Carol of May Dreams Gardens to celebrate all things blooming on the 15th of every month. It also happens to be my one year anniversary of garden blogging. I can't believe that something I started as a lark a year ago would offer me such long term satisfaction. Or that I would eventually meet some of the great garden bloggers out there (including the intrepid Carol) less than a year later at Chicago Spring Fling. Blogging about my garden has made me a better gardener and photographer; I've also "met" many wonderful people out there, and for all of that, I am most grateful.



So this is the month that my Susans shine. Black-eyed Susans, ‘Goldsturm’ Rudbeckia, that is. There are many more Susan blooms to come than are shown in these first two photos. In the background you can see my willow teepee.

This teepee has been a study in patience. In the spring I planted many Louisiana Purple Pod Beans, Hyacinth Bean Vines, and Moonflowers around it. Almost all of them succumbed to slugs since we had such a rainy spring (whatever happened to rain??). So I had to replant multiple times and what you see on the teepee now is mostly Moonflower (‘Giant White’) with some smattering of Hyacinth Bean Vine. The Moonflower is not blooming yet but I've had a few Hyacinth Bean blooms (see below). They look a little puny, don't they? I grew this vine many years ago and if I recall correctly, it should perk up with more blooms later on in the summer.



Blue Daze, Evolvulus glomeratus, is finally starting to beef up.



I love how long Purple Coneflower blooms. Or maybe I should say how long the blooms stay on the plant.



My Hansel eggplant is really a cute plant and is starting to put on some blooms and fruit. I was told this eggplant was like Ichiban, you know, long and slender. But after I bought it I researched it and found that the eggplants are finger-sized! Not exactly what I wanted but the plant's beauty makes up for the mistake.



Now here's a plant that I really, really, really want to bloom. It's in the pot, "Grosso Fat Spike" lavender. I planted it last year and it never bloomed. I didn't trust planting it in the ground for fear it might get too much water over the winter. Will my lavender ever bloom? Well if it doesn't bloom by the end of the year, it's outta here.



I have spent far too much time trying to take a picture of one of the many hummingbirds at my Flame Acanthus, Anisicanthus quadrifidus “wrightii” (also called Hummingbird Plant). Hopefully, with my helpful circle diagram, you can see one of the critters partaking of the nectar. This plant didn't do that much last year, the first year I had it. But it's exploded in growth and blooms this year. In fact, I had to cut it back a bit in order to give the pepper behind it more sun.



I couldn't resist one more shot. Although not directly about blooms (though you can see some of the Susans), it shows a Northern Flicker and Ringed Turtle-dove sharing a moment at the water cooler.



There are a few other things blooming in the garden right now: plumbago, a second set of blooms on one of my daylilies, Lizard Lips aloe, my mystery rose, Veteran's Honor rose, Marie Pavie rose, bouganvillia, my peppers, Verbena bonariensis, cleome "Sparkler White", nicotiana, ‘Ragin’ Cajun’ Ruellia, pink verbena, the Salvias, etc.

I have so much catching up to do on my favorite garden blogs yet now there's so many other gardens to see through GBBD! Carol posts links to all the GBBD posts, so be sure to check them out. And happy anniversary to me! :-)

A Big Thank You to Chicago Garden Bloggers

I had a heck of a good time at the Chicago Spring Fling. I saw some fabulous gardens and met some new friends. I'll be blogging about a few of the special places I went soon but before I do that, I want to be sure to thank all of the folks who worked so hard on CSF. Those Chicago garden bloggers worked really hard and I know that all of us really appreciated their efforts. Thank you big time!! (And I want to send another shout out to my dear husband who went along with me so patiently!)

For a taste of CSF, here's a collage I made. (It's my first time to make one and it didn't really turn out as expected. But hopefully you'll appreciate the teaser.)



And to my surprise, I had my FIRST TOMATO OF THE SEASON waiting for us when we got back. Here's my first Cherokee Purple.

The great big blogging world

I gotta say, I had no idea what I was missing in this world since I have only just recently discovered the world of blogging about gardening. My big loss!! But I'm there now. There are so many spectacular garden blogs out there that I want to add every single one I come across to my favorites list. But here's the thing that worries me the most - I'm getting addicted to looking for them and reading them. I can spend hours doing that. And I'm supposed to be directing my "career transition" (euphemism for finding a job) instead of doing that.

Ah well, the cats don't seem to mind. Duba and Chobe are quite non-plussed by my garden blog addiction guilt.

Day 1 in the blogosphere

It's about time... Time I joined everyone else who thinks they have something to say. Yes, time to start letting the world know my personal opinions about my garden, the act of gardening, my gardening likes and dislikes, and maybe a few other things too.

But give me some time to figure how to get this whole thing off and going...