More Austin bloggers
The spring greens of bamboo muhly (Muhlenbergia dumosa ), iris foliage, and tumbled glass in the bird bath.
Drizzly, wintry weather returns to Austin tonight with temperatures dipping to freezing. Freezes always seem to take Austinites by surprise, so accustomed to warm weather, shorts, and flip-flops are we. Even so, winter rarely lays its icy hand on us for long, and in mid-winter plenty of greens remain, presaging the spring greens to come.
In spite of the cold, I’d like to give a warm hello to two new Austin bloggers, who may be green at blogging but who bring their fresh perspectives to a town already brimming with garden bloggers (current count : 17). VBDB has been Playin’ Outside and has the photos to prove it. In her current post, she shows us her delightful pond and waterfall, explains her inspiration for the design (her dogs figure into it), and describes how she maintains it. If you’ve considered installing a back-yard pond, this is a good source of information.
Lori, a transplanted Wisconsinite, has intriguingly titled her new blog The Gardener of Good and Evil. She has just one post up as yet—for Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day—but that one automatically links her to the wider community. Her photo of our native coralberry (Symphoricarpos orbiculatus ) almost makes me want to try it again, though I had to pull up my coralberry this fall after it attempted a hostile takeover of my rain garden. And do I detect a stock tank in the background of her last photo? A gardener after my own heart.
I encourage both Lori and VBDB, and all other garden bloggers, to join Blotanical (no longer active), Stuart‘s incredible garden-blog directory and social-networking site. Whether you blog or not, a visit to Blotanical will lead you to wonderful garden blogs organized by world map, by popularity, and by individual posts (100 most-recent and most-popular). When you register your blog with Blotanical, you’ll be given your own “Plot,” a page where you can share a little about yourself with other registered bloggers, send messages, and help rank blogs and individual posts by choosing your favorites.
Both of the new Austin bloggers will be attending the Garden Bloggers Spring Fling on April 5, and I look forward to meeting them there. Will we be meeting you too, fellow garden bloggers from around the nation (and world)? The guest list is growing, but we still have room for more.
All material © 2006-2008 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.
It’s great to see that so many are coming, wish it was possible for me to come too. But I will be able to see what fun it was on many a gardener’s blog I think. 😉
BTW I recently found out that I am also gardening in zone 8, does that make me an honorary Austin garden blogger? 🙂
Isn’t that strange, with you so far north! Those amazing ocean currents, yes? But that zone only reflects the cold end of the scale. What about the heat index? When the Netherlands approaches Austin’s normal summer highs (upper 90s F, or 36 to 37 C), then I’ll know the world has turned upside down. —Pam
Thanks for letting us know about the new Austin Garden Bloggers, Pam – quite a change from two years ago when you were just joining MSS and Julie and I was still a lurker. What a wonderful town Austin can be for gardeners and writers.
As to the zone 8 qualification, while I’d let Yolanda be an honorary anything-she-wants – for Austin she’ll have to add flip-flops to that shoe collection! http://blissyo-elgarden.blogspot.com/2007/03/fashionable-footwear-for-gardening.html
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
Ha! Now that I can’t picture. But you’re right, and I neglected to mention to her that I’d be delighted to consider her an honorary Austin blogger. Now if only we could entice her overseas for the Spring Fling… —Pam
Shoot, what I’m most taken with in the post is BAMBOO! I crave it here in zone 5, but it’s also expensive. For $80 WFF
has Fargesi murielae. Have you ever tried that?
No, I haven’t, Benjamin. In fact, the bamboo muhly shown in my photo isn’t, in fact, a true bamboo but an ornamental grass from Arizona. But doesn’t it look like bamboo? It’s currently my favorite plant, and I’m using it everywhere. —Pam
Pam, How do you clean your bird bath with all that glass in it?? I have to swish my bird baths out daily with all the birds using it. Or do you even fill it? It sure is pretty with that colored glass in it. This has made me take a look at my bird baths and I think they need some attention this summer.
In such a hot location as my front garden, a bird bath that shallow would just evaporate every day. So rather than fuss with refilling and cleaning it, I decided to use glass as a representation of water. The bird bath does fill when it rains, but it quickly evaporates, and the birds leave it alone, preferring the container pond in the back garden. —Pam
So many Austin garden bloggers. Indianapolis will never catch up!
Carol, May Dreams Gardens
Carol, that may be. But you’ve got personality to spare, and Indianapolis is well-represented by you. —Pam
What generous spirits I’ve found in this community! Thanks to all – especially Pam, Bonnie, and Annie – who’ve shared and supported me this week as Playin’ Outside got off the virtual ground. Look forward to seeing everyone in Austin.
I’m always happy to encourage another Austin garden blogger. Welcome to the community, VBDB. —Pam
It’s the North sea that makes my climate so temperate, Pam. 36 to 37 C is possible during summer here but an exception rather than a rule.
Annie, I have no problem with a sing along with Buffy the Musical with Austin Buffy fans (minus the beer swilling coz Beer Bad!) But flip-flops is stretching it a bit. 😉
I had no idea it would ever get into the upper 90s F in the Netherlands. I’m glad it’s the exception rather than the rule, as it is for Austin. That’s entirely too hot for my taste. —Pam