My 6th blogiversary and I’m still Digging gardens
When I started blogging in February 2006, I had no idea I’d still be so passionate about it 6 years, or even a couple of years, later. But blogging has introduced me to so many friends (online and offline), helped me build my garden design business, spurred the establishment of the annual Garden Bloggers Fling (hosted this year in Asheville, North Carolina), and even helped me land a book deal (see my Facebook page, Lawn Gone, for more info)!
Blogging can be whatever you want it to be: a personal record of your garden, a way to converse with other plant geeks, a vehicle to engage your customers, a place for you to rhapsodize about your favorite plants or dish the dirt on the gardening world. With the rise of Twitter and Facebook and Pinterest, I don’t know what the future holds for blogs. Will they one day seem outdated and struggle for readership like so many gardening magazines and newspaper columns? I sure hope not. There’s still nothing like a blog for sharing real-life information, inspiring photos, and the gardener’s hard-won wisdom and giddy delight, and the back-and-forth conversations that blogging allows through reader comments are still valuable.
So thank you, dear reader, for your continuing interest! And thanks to the many other garden bloggers and commenters for keeping the conversation going and continuing to inspire me!
All material © 2006-2012 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.
And thank YOU, Pam, for all your inspiration.. both from words and photos! Please don’t quit blogging, ever!
Congratulation Pam on 6 years – Long may it continue as I for one LOVE your blog and have learnt a lot from you!! Happy Bloggaversary!
Happy Blogiversary! Cheers to you for much continued writing and gardening success. Your blog is fabulous, and I’m looking forward to meeting you in Asheville!
Happy blog anniversary, Pam! Wow, 6 years! I imagine there are lots more blogs now than when you first started.
At the high school I am a para at, we have something called, “advisories” once a week. It’s students in the same grade level, but from different abilities and backgrounds. I am with a special education student who doesn’t talk much. The subject got to texting, and activities on the internet. I mentioned how much I enjoy blogging, because you can “talk” when you want, by writing a post. You can “listen” by reading someone else’s post. When you are finished being social, you can go do something else, and not have to wait for someone to leave. Someone didn’t know what a blog was, and someone else said it’s like FB and Twitter. I said that a big difference, though, is your blog belongs to you. I like having complete control over my own space on the internet. I think that will keep many of us blogging.
I didn’t notice the critter in your photo at first! I love it!
I totally agree with Corner Garden Sue. It’s nice to be able to express myself in complete thought patterns without brevity changing the context of my conversation. I hope blogs are here to stay, and especially yours, Pam. I think they are much harder to do – you have to think about it, make it look good, pull a string of thoughts together and not just one blurb, and edit and publish photos (the most annoying part for me). Yet a good blog is like a good book and many of us with longer attention spans will continue to enjoy them. Thanks for being a major player!
Congratulations on your blogiversary. You’ve brought hours of enjoyment, information & inspiration to so many of us in the garden blogging world. Thank you — and best of luck for the next six years.
Happy Bloiversary! Six years…wow.
You’ve been a real inspiration for me…learning to garden all over again, in the Hill Country.
I hope blogging is here to stay, for a long time.
I wouldn’t be here without you, now, would I? Happy anniversary and thanks for all the great posts.
Congratulations on six years! Wow!
Happy Blogiversary! It’s great that this “hobby” has been such a success for you and an inspiration for others. To the next six years and beyond…
Congratulations on 6 years of blogging! That’s amazing. I usually read just about every post of your blog. I don’t always comment, but I do read. And of course, I find lots of inspiration in your photos, despite the big differences in our climates. In fact, right now I’m working on putting in a gravel garden, using stock tanks and culvert pipe, thanks to you. I would never have known what a whale’s tongue agave was without the pictures of Moby on your blog. And now I want one.
My passion seems to have evaporated in the desert heat. I’m still gardening, but don’t have that impulse to write about it (and so much other stuff to deal with these days)M
Love that you have maintained your enthusiasm. Hope there are endless years ahead of your fabulous vision and voice!
We have been enjoying your garden blogs since I accidently ran across it last Summer while you were touring and photographing the beautiful gardens in Seattle. We live 160 miles S.E of there and experience a totally different climate. After you returned to Texas you kept us informed of the devastating wild fires by posting photographs. These were amazing! Am looking forward to reading about your Asheville Fling this Spring.
I still like blogs best. I am so glad that you are still at it after 6 years. This little guy in the first photo is one of my favorites of yours. Happy 6th blogaversery.
Congratulations, Pam! Thanks for your inspiration. I agree that there’s nothing like blogging for sharing gardening ideas and inspiration–across the country and across the globe. Cheers!
Congratulations. Here’s to the next six years!
Congratulations and thanks for sharing your garden with all of us!
Congratulations on six years of your inspiring blog!
Blogs should be around until sites like Facebook allow more space for entries and enough photos to tell the story. Using all the options as the situation fits works well at this point.
Happy Sixth!
HI, Pam, This question is timely and inevitable. I can think of a few gardening blogs that have now “come and gone” and they were among my favorites. I’m imagining that as long as gardening bloggers continue to be inspired, and write from a spirited place, there will be a place for us. I’m happy you are among my gardening blogger community and that you are as successful as you are. Hugs! Kathryn xoxo
Though I have not followed your for 6 years, I have since I started blogging, and I would like to say thank you!
Quite an accomplishment, Pam! Thank you for sharing so much inspiration and knowledge. It’s always a pleasure to stop by your blog. Looking forward to many more years!
Congratulations, Pam, on such a milestone! I just wanted to put in a word for continuing to blog rather than converting solely to other methods of communicating with others. I do follow you on Facebook, though I don’t check FB as often as my reader. I prefer the longer format of blog entries. I’ve only been a subscriber for a couple of years, but your gardens are an inspiration to me, especially in our transitioning Texas climate.
Congratulations, you are a real inspiration – don’t stop! I hope to be more organized next month with my blooms and foliage
Congratulations on your anniversary. I know you have helped me more than once identify a plant, and provide design inspiration – especially through out hot Austin summers.
Pam:
Let me add my congratulations to the others. Yours is one of the best and most reliable of garden blogs. Enjoyable and inspiring. Hope you keep it going for a long time.
Thanks,
Peter
Happy 6th, Pam! You are such a wonderful garden blogger and there seems to be no end to the fascinating topics you have for Digging. Yours was one of the very first I discovered and I’m so glad I did.
Will Blogging stay in style?
I think it will and here’s why.
For a thirsty person, Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest are like a sip of water.
Garden blogs are like one of those giant Big Gulp cups! Some of us are VERY thirsty for gardening ideas and stories and a sip just won’t suffice. Blogs are satisfying to the soul.
David/:0)
Pam,
Not only 6 years of blogging, but 6 years of superb photos, research, humor, personality, writing and bringing all of us along with you on your journey. You deserve to bask in the glow for while. Enjoy it, for when you are famous and a household name because of your book success, we little people will be pounding on your dressing room door for more. 🙂
Cheers!
Christina
The Personal Garden Coach
Happy, happy blog anniversary! I love your blog and you!
Congratulations! You do a fantastic job. It must take a lot of time and energy and I appreciate all that you share with us. I’ve been reading you for about 4 years and though I seldom comment, I always appreciate.
Everyone, thank YOU all so much for your supportive comments and encouragement, both of which really do keep me going. I also read with interest your thoughts about the future of blogging. It will be interesting to see how/if blogging evolves to meet the ever increasing demands on our time of the other social media outlets. —Pam
Congratulations on six years. Your blog is always fresh and interesting. You make it look so easy. I am looking forward to many more years of Digging.
Happy blogiversary Pam! It just blows my mind to think you’ve been at this for so long, actually in a couple weeks will be my 3rd blogiversary….you’ve been at it for twice as long, wow! Besides the sheer number of garden blogs there are now what other ways have you seen the garden blogosphere change? (if any)
Loree, the explosion of garden blogs starting around 2008 altered the sense of intimacy of the early years. It used to seem that you could visit nearly every garden blogger and leave chatty comments, and you could expect to receive a lot of comments on your posts from these same bloggers. This was before Facebook and Twitter took off for the masses. Nowadays, it simply isn’t possible to visit every garden blog out there, and most of us have less time, because of the demands of other social media, to leave thoughtful comments. My approach has been to still try to read (or at least scan) as many blogs as possible on a once-a-week mad feed-read, but I comment much less. Which is too bad, because that back-and-forth dialogue is what makes blogging so special. But there are only so many hours in the day.
On the plus side—and it’s a big plus—one can now find a garden blog in every corner of the country, and in the world. No one has to garden alone anymore! You can count on finding kindred spirits no matter your interest: pond gardening, desert gardening, macros of pretty plants, wildlife in the garden, garden design, edible gardens, and so on. Plus there’s a wealth of talent out there, and many blogs are as good as, if not better, than the magazine articles of old that we used to rely on for inspiration or information.
It’ll be interesting to see whether the number of garden blogs begins to taper off in a few years, as the novelty wears off or people decide they prefer the sound bites of Facebook, Twitter, or the next big thing. Or blogging may evolve into some hybrid of all these, including video. It’s still a brave new world. —Pam
Congratulations Pam! You were the first blog I read and totally responsible for getting me started blogging. Thank you. I love blogging but, find that other social media interferes with my energy level and time. I am seriously thinking of dropping off of fb and giving all my energy back to C and L. gail
Congratulations, Pam. That is a great photograph of the lizard in your plant.
Congratulations, Pam! Here’s to many more years of blogging!
Six years –wow. I tip my hat to you. I agree that with the introduction of FB and Twitter and Pinterest that there may be a decline in the blogging. I do think though that it will even out. I think a blog is more info than a quick tweet or a picture on Pinterest or a brief description on FB. Each has its own place in our social media. Looking forward to being part of the Fling in Ashville.
Pam – happy anniversary and congrats for six great years of gardening and blogging success. I can say that for me, you’ve been an incredible ‘mentor’ in a way as I learn alot from your posts, your writings and your style of photography. I’m hoping that blogging continues – and especially that the blogging community has the benefit of reading your creative thoughts on gardening and see the world of gardening thru your wonderful pictures. Congrats again!
Pam – Congratulations !!
6 years of blogging makes you a pioneer in the genre! Thanks to Cat, I found your blog in one of her posts last year. Your garden designs are so dynamic – it’s such a treat to see what is new on your latest ‘blank canvas’. I love what David wrote above – Blogs are satisfying to the soul – Amen to that! Looking forward to your ‘next 6 blog yrs.’!
Congratulations on your sixth blogaversary. I savour your posts, one perfect portion of garden blog!
Pam, it’s been said before, but thank you for sharing your yards and knowledge with us. I can’t even tell you how much I’ve learned from you and been inspired to transform my own space. I agree with David #28. Quality blogging will not become antiquated. It’s “reality internet” and people prefer to interact with real people. Blog On!! xoxo
Happy six-year anniversary! It’s been pure pleasure to learn about your gardens and what’s going on horticulturally in Austin. In addition to your lawn alternatives book, your garden tour visits need to be compiled into a book.
I can’t believe that you have only been doing this for six years! But I am soooo glad that you started, I have learned a great deal from your posts and look forward to many others. Because of your postings, my mother and I have gone to the Fredericksburg’s Wildflower Farm, and the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in the last two years. That may not seem like much but you have to understand that we have lived 2 hours away for 30+ and I lived in Austin for 5 years and we never went. So thanks for your excitement and please keep it coming. Best of luck to you!