Let's Remember Linda, the RainGardener

Today is her Birthday. Blotanical reminded me about it.
Her blog,  Gardening By Trial and Error, still attracts traffic in the blogosphere. I bumped into her posts several times while searching for some information about plants. She continues to be helpful, her pictures continue to be an inspiration.
You are not forgotten, dear Linda!
 I thought about you while visiting our Washington coast last week. It was your place - Olympic mountains, rain forests, Pacific shores...

Happy Birthday to you, Dear Blogging Friend!
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You live as long as you are remembered

***Copyright 2011 TatyanaS

Humming Bird Has Brown Eyes

Hug of a Garden Blogger

It was pouring rain... I was driving yesterday to meet some garden bloggers at the Dragonfly Farms nursery. It was the last day of the Seattle Garden Bloggers Fling - 2011, and it was my only chance to see people whom I met virtually but whom I felt I had known for a long time. It was pouring rain... Then, the traffic almost came to a full stop. Roadwork ahead. One lane. Slow... Very slow... I could see the red tail lights all the way ahead. I won't make it I thought. I got off the highway and prepared to drive back home. Fortunately, there were a lot of cars I needed to wait for, and I stood there for a couple of minutes. When the way cleared, instead of turning left and driving home, I went straight and merged again into the slow traffic. I couldn't miss the chance to see my fellow bloggers. When else will they come to Seattle? It could be my only chance to put together faces and blogs' names!  Well, I made it safely to the nursery and believe me, I was so glad I did!  Hugs, hugs, hugs! Dear Gail, Frances, Barbara, Victoria, Michelle, Helen, Kylee, Pam, Dee, Melanthia, Loree, Ann, Alison, Layanee, Diana...  did I miss anyone?...

 I met the majority of these wonderful bloggers on Blotanical. That is why I want again to thank Stuart for creating and maintaining this unique site. Some of us, after several years of being active blotanists, slowed down but I still believe that Blotanical is a great place to meet gardening soulmates. I tell you, it's a very special thing - a real hug of a virtual gardening friend...

I was so childishly happy to be there...  Almost the same as I feel watching hummingbirds in my garden.

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Red Bergamot (Monarda, Bee Balm) is supposed to attract bees, isn't it?

Not in my garden this summer! The bees and bumblebees all attack escallonia and foxgloves. Bergamot belongs exclusively to a hummingbird.

 A princess arrives for breakfast and later for lunch every day.

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 I usually stay there for a couple of minutes, then go to the house to pick up the camera, come back, and it's still shuttling from one flower to another. I hear the sound of its tiny wings. She dissappears as fast as she appears.

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One time, there were two of them, but after a short fight one flew away.

Pretty turquose glimmer on its back,  but look at these claws!

I like the next picture. The bird's face is seen through the vail of its wings:

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Come again!

***Copyright 2011 TatyanaS

Blotanical: The Garden I Can Visit Any Time I Want

I've been blogging for more than a year now. I wrote about my garden, travel, my kids' school life, etc. I had a good group of readers who were my relatives, friends, friends of my friends and just friendly strangers. Unfortunately, very few of them were gardeners. It was good to hear what they thought about my garden, but I was craving for more. Like a fisherman wants to talk to other fishermen, I wanted to talk to other gardeners, learn from them and share my experiences with them. It was purely accidental that I stumbled on Blotanical http://www.blotanical.com/. Several months after joining it, this is what I got:

* The first visible result came very fast. I've had a self-seeding pink-flowering plant that I didn't know the name of. Many gardeners tried to help me, and hurray it was found! - Sweet William Catchfly:

* I found grasses that would be good candidates for replacing a part of our lawn. Several blotanists posted very useful information about grasses and their use in landscapes.

* I learned the name of weeds that started to invade all parts of my garden. After reading a couple of posts, I announced a state of emergency and several sessions of weeding later, I can say that I won the battle.

* I found new details about composting thanks to several blotanists.

* I had bulbs that I bought at the 2008 NW Flower and Garden Show which didn't have tags. I spent weeks trying to remember their names: Bulb... Giant bulb... Well, my guesswork ended after I read one recent post. It was a Giant Squill Bulb!:

* Several of my posts

(for example, "What are you all whining about?" ( http://tanyasgarden.blogspot.com/2009/02/what-are-you-all-whining-about.html), "Amur Maple, Black Caviar and The Dog On My Blog" (http://tanyasgarden.blogspot.com/2009/02/amur-maple-black-caviar-and-dog-on-my.html) resulted from reading other Blotanists' posts.

* I learned about new plants, visited several botanical gardens in other states and countries, read high quality posts on a range of garden subjects, had many good laughs and met dozens of nice friendly people.

It is like participating in garden tours when people are so generous they let you step into their gardens and answer your questions. It is even better since you are touring those gardens comfortably seating in your office no matter what time a day or night it is. Speaking about day and night, I should confess I check Blotanical any time I can not sleep. I read posts, do my picks and voila - I'm ready for dreaming about flowers, grasses, raised beds, birdhouses, earthworms, bulbs, etc., etc. To be fair I should admit that I am spending much more time with my computer now. So that I do not feel too bad about it, I try to combine blogging with snacking, doing yoga and having breaks from doing chores. All in all, I feel good and look forward to having my first spring, summer and fall with Blotanical.
I heard a saying: A GARDEN IS A FRIEND WHOM YOU CAN VISIT ANY TIME YOU WANT. It looks like Blotanical is another place that you can visit any time whether you want to be alone and enjoy all the beauty which the garden world offers or engage in a friendly chat with fellow gardeners.