Preface: This entry is more about "Gardeners" than "Gardening"
Like I do most things in my life, I started this blog after thinking about for about ummmm 3 minutes. Seemed like a good way for me to 1. share my gardening experience with my family back home who wouldn't otherwise believe I'm outside doing this ON PURPOSE 2. document this for myself so that I can see the transformation of my property from "yard" to "garden" and 3. nurture my inner egomaniac that hopes maybe some stranger out there might want to see what's going on in my backyard.
I have gotten a few comments from other blogging gardeners whom I envy and aspire to copy and little by little I've been making my way over to their blogs to read their stories. The one I'm currently reading is from a fellow I-use-to-live-in-the-south-but-moved-to-Chicago blogger.
Carolyn, over at http://www.sweethomeandgardenchicago.blogspot.com/ read my blog and left me a few comments. Thanks, Carolyn! In the first comment Carolyn questioned why I say on my profile that I'm trying to get rid of my "annoying southern accent" and I remember thinking "oh great, I've already offended a fellow blogger." Since then I've been reading Carolyn's blog daily but recently decided to go back to her very first blog entry, you know, to see what she's all about. After reading only 1.5 months worth of her blog, here are my thoughts in no particular order.
Holy crap - she's a real landscape designer!
Holy crap - she's been in the Chicago Tribune! She's famous!
Holy crap - she's a vegetarian too!
I don't know why I was so surprised to see that real life landscape designers blog. I'm sure it has something to do with some ridiculous stereotype that I picked up about bloggers. The only famous ones are usually killers, right? Anyway, I've already learned some great things by reading Carolyn's older entries, like Forsythias will grow here and there are smaller varieties that might be more suitable for my little garden. And, it's okay for me to grow Rhododendrons and/or Azaleas here. I'm sure she has lots more great information for me and I can't wait to finish reading her entire blog.
Most importantly, reading Carolyn's blog made me realize that no matter how much I'm glad to have moved out of the South, I really miss some things about it. I never realized how many Azaleas we have in Tennessee, or how NOT seeing them would make me realize just how pretty they are.
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Dear Gina,
ReplyDeleteI was very touched by your "Ode to a gardening blogger " post today. Thanks you so much for your tribute. I am happy that I've inspired you.
I am not " famous " as you said - yes, I've had my 15 minutes of fame in the Chicago Tribune ( actually twice so that's 30 minutes of fame ) but the last thing I want to be is famous.
First and foremost I am an avid gardener and artist. I garden in the summer and paint in the winter and I love creating gardens for other people.
I didn't leave the South because I wanted to, like you did, but because I had to, for economic reasons. I guess I naturally have more sentimental feelings for it.
There's an old saying that " Once a Southerner, always a Southerner " and I interpret that to mean that you'll find it very difficult to leave your past behind.
Anyhoo, I hope that you'll make a smooth transition from South to North. Chicago is a great city.
I'm a newcomer to the garden blogging scene just as your are. The important thing is to do what you love and everything else will follow.
Keep up the good work.
I think it's funny that the chicago-bloggers I read are actually from the south. I never visited past springfield IL until I upped and married a good southern boy from Nashville 3 years ago (who lost his accent and is not southern at all in my opinion). Is there a mass exodus going on?
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