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May 16, 2006

Garden Blogs list grows like a weed

Thanks to all these gardening bloggers who screwed up their courage to ask for a link. Be brave -- this is not a contest, and I'm happy to list your blog. Just have a real garden blog with recent posts. The only blogs I haven't posted have been spam sites trying to get legitimate links and a couple of people who were planning garden posts but hadn't made them yet -- or still.

I'll be uploading the full Garden Blogs list, topped with these new entries, a bit later this afternoon.

This Garden is Illegal is a hoot. Hanna in Cleveland leads it right now with, The Ants go Marching on the Peonies... Hurrah! Hurrah!:

The garden myth is that peonies need ants on them in order for the buds to open properly. This is not true. A peony bud will open just as well with or without the ants.

But before you go running for the pesticide, the ants do serve a purpose. These ants will eat the bad insects that will hurt your peonies.Mother Nature very rarely does something without a very good reason. Peonies secrete a sweet sap when they are in bud, which attracts the ants. The ants come for desert but find a second helping of harmful insects. The peonies want the ants to come so that they have some protection.

Before that, there was a nice post on Guerilla Gardening: What the cool gardeners are doing these days -- "random acts of gardening without permission from the land's owners." Abandoned land, that is, not your neighbor's undeveloped sunny patch. On the left sidebar are very faint links to garden-site coupons that look very useful.

The Inadvertent Gardener is a stylish blog from Iowa, each post a narrative. Gotta love this:

Getting in touch
Need garden advice? Then you probably shouldn't send me an email.

Definitely worth a look.

From Digging, vitex in bloom; click the image for a larger version and a closeup of its purple flowers.

Digging: Diary of a Central Austin Garden: Like me, Pam is in her fifth year of blogging. Her Texas garden -- and especially her photo of the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center that's leading now -- look shockingly different from our rain-drenched New England spring gardens, desperate for sun.

Empress of Spring is in Ontario, where it's also soaked. "Empress" Melissa writes,

I am located in zone 5a in Ontario, Canada on the edge of small city. My garden was created from a plain, sod covered lot after years of attending garden tours and wishing I could have something as beautiful as all the gardens I was visiting. Despite the odd layout, lack of trees, and ridiculously hard clay soil, and no experience, I set out to learn how to garden. While waiting for the young plants to mature, I turned my attention to garden junk-making to add interest to the yard.
Another interest is videoblogging and I occassionally post short movies featuring scenes from my garden [see Knockin' On Heaven's Door]. This is something that I hope other garden bloggers will start doing as well. It's as easy as uploading photos and, I believe, very enjoyable to view.

Richiesoft Garden Blog, from Conwy, North Wales, has large, lovely photos. He also seems to be paralleling our seasons, showing tulips and pansies, with photos of irises and poppies in his parents' garden.from previous years.

Weeding the Garden is a breezy MSN Spaces blog by Alison, in Georgia, who writes,

It is a blend of gardening and my kids, my two favorite things.. I also do my own photography of my flowers which is my new found hobby. I grew up in Idaho and now adjusting to the Georgia climate and adjusting what I grew up knowing what did well in the garden, to what grows in the Georgia climate well..

Geranium Blog is Dawn Hill's account of growing pelargoniums -- the proper name -- in hot, sunny Las Vegas. It sounds like the perfect climate for them.

Posted by Sheila Lennon  at 5:19 PM | Permalink

Comments

Posted by: Alison on May 16, 2006 8:37 PM

Posted by: Genie on May 16, 2006 11:59 PM

Posted by: Melissa on May 23, 2006 9:38 PM