Friday, October 4, 2013

Two Year Blogiversary

This blog is two years old today and, as it happens, it's also my 300th post.  Two years and 300 posts is just a little less than three posts a week, so I guess I've been having fun...haven't I?  Well it's been enough fun that I plan to keep on going.  In celebration I'm sharing the story of this blog ("My Blog So Far....").  It is also Marilyn Monroe's birthday, the anniversary of Sputnik, and the day Janis Joplin died.  Somehow my blog anniversary is not on the list of the important things which happened on October 4th.   Yet.

I've never been busted flat in Baton Rouge, but I have been beaten silly by the Texas caliche.  Not much rhythm in there, but it feels similar.  And I haven't orbited the earth, but I have circumnavigated my circle garden a few times.  And regarding the seven year itch, that will be a post 5 years from now.

Anyhoo, back at the south 40, when we began planning our retirement move from Washington DC to San Antonio in the spring of 2008, I also began to search for landscape inspiration.  In addition to the many excellent local gardening articles and radio shows offering advice, I knew I needed a lot more.  I wanted a landscape that would reflect both my style and our region.

Circle Garden Spring 2013

Seeking inspiration I searched numerous gardening word combinations and only came up with a few ideas.  When I added the word "Austin" to the mix I began to make progress, and somewhere in there the blog "Digging" popped up and I was intrigued.  I had been aware of cooking and travel blogs but the idea of a garden blog hadn't occurred to me.  So I scanned a few pages, filed it as a possibility somewhere in my mind, closed it and got busy with my last few weeks of work and planning our nearly 2,000 mile move.

Surprised?  You were probably thinking that I should have been mesmerized for hours and that's exactly what I think now when I look back.  Sometime in late 2009 while researching family history I found Pam's blog again when her post on the Texas State Cemetery turned up in a search and I instantly remembered seeing her blog before.  This time when I clicked the header to go to Digging's homepage it all literally clicked into place.  That's when I spent hours reading through old posts and learning so much from the information Pam shares on plants, landscaping, gardens, and nurseries--all of it focused on beating the extremes of Texas weather.  I also found her list of "Garden Blogs I Dig" and was transported around our region and the world peeking behind the fence at all types of gardens.  That was about the time I had begun to focus on gardening and it quickly became clear that blogs were the best way to find the inspiration I needed to get going on my own landscape.

Lindheimer's Muhly and Salvia Greggii
A year later, in 2010, I took one more step toward garden blogging and made my first ever blog comment on Digging (where else?).  It wasn't long before I was regularly reading and commenting on blogs.  Before long I knew I wanted to be part of the conversation and needed a way to share the progress (or lack of) in the work of making a garden.  Then I surprised myself even more by setting up a blogger account with the name Rock-Oak-Deer in May of 2011.  What was I thinking?  My own garden was a mere shell and I had no idea what I would write about otherwise.  It would be another 18 months or so before I finally got around to my first blog post.

September 2013
By Summer of 2011 I had compiled a list of post ideas yet each time I sat down to write a post it seemed my garden was just too boring.  I had begun attending gardening events and meeting more local gardeners and I kept thinking "someone should blog about this" yet somehow I couldn't seem to get started.  In October 2011 Pam announced a new meme, Support Your Independent Nursery Month, and I knew this was just what I needed to get out there and start posting.  This I can do--visit my local nurseries, take photos, write about them once a week.  I sent Pam an email announcing that I was jumping in with a garden blog of my own and received the most gracious and encouraging reply. Now I was committed and I published my intro post on October 4th and a profile of Hill Country Gardens in New Braunfels the following day.  Of course, I got so involved in the process of the story I forgot to link back to Digging, but linking back is something I try to do often whenever I find inspiration and I try to give credit.  From that first post onward I have never been at a loss for things to post about.  Insects, the full blue moon, building a new garage, getting a delivery of topsoil, learning how to propagate cactus pups, learning as I went along I tried to also bring readers along for the ride.  My posts became ways to tell the world about how I improved my own garden, what I enjoyed learning about, and how you could join in on the journey.

Buttonbush
If you've been thinking of starting a blog and need a way to get started, a meme is a great way to jump start the process.  It gives you a bit of structure in those first few weeks and provides impetus to get moving.  The biggest bonus is I'm sure my own yard would not look as good without the blog to push me into completing projects.
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Driveway October 2013
My photography skills have improved too.  Is that really my garden?  I want to live there....oh that is my garden and I do live there.  It is amazing what changing light and a different lens can do for the photos.

Formerly dreary side yard
I'm so glad I joined the blogger community, it's been a fun two years and I have enjoyed sharing my gardening adventures and my beautiful city with all of you.  It's been so much fun meeting other bloggers around Texas.  I thoroughly appreciate your reading and commenting on this blog.

I still have only scratched the surface of that original list.  By the way, is Sputnik a plant that will grow in the Texas heat?

34 comments:

  1. Happy Blogiversary! You have done a fantastic job with your blog. I love reading about the transformation of your garden. I have drawn a ton of inspiration from your posts. Looking forward to reading many more wonderful posts:)

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  2. Happy Bolgaversary, Shirley! Glad you joined in finally, I had no idea you'd only been blogging for two years. I also started blogging as a way to learn about my new area after moving here to the PNW from the east coast, and like you, feared that tales of my own garden would bore folk to tears. I've enjoyed reading your posts, and hope maybe one day we might meet at the Fling.

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  3. Congrats!!! And I am glad you joined the blogger world. Your garden and layout has been an inspiration for my own work here. And while I post on different things, I still love reading about gardens, design and xeriscape plants. Your blog is the most similar to our Tucson gardens. Happy blogiversary:)

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  4. Thanks Shirley for all the work and time you put into this. I really enjoy reading all your gardening challenges, because I have most of the same challenges here in my new NW San Antonio home.Somehow our very "country" style neighborhood has managed to avoid having the deer problems that plaque many suburban neighborhoods here.
    Thanks for always including the full name of any plant you work with. I especially appreciate your information on propagating cactus, your plant cutting class, etc...By the time I have the time to start my own blog, my landscaping and gardening work here will be entirely done and I can finally sit back on the porch and enjoy it!

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  5. I'm so glad joined the blogosphere! It's wonderful reading/seeing your absolutely gorgeous garden. You've made a lot of progress in such a short time!

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  6. Happy Blogiversary! I've been blogging since 2002 when it was not widespread and much different than it is today. My blog has had several incarnations! Keep at it, love seeing your garden.

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  7. Happy Blogiversary!!
    You've done a great job...with your blog AND your garden.

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  8. Congratulations and Happy Blogversary! We're all the richer for you joining the world of garden blogging. I know I'm a regular reader, sometimes commenter, and I always enjoy popping by to see what's going on in your garden or finding out about other gardens and garden nurseries around you. Keep up the great work.

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  9. Congratulations!
    I enjoyed reading how you got started blogging.
    Lea
    Lea's Menagerie

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  10. Shirley, I feel so honored by your kind mentions of Digging and am glad to have been able to give you the nudge you were waiting for to start blogging. San Antonio (and Austin and beyond) NEEDED your blog. You give us not only helpful and inspiring information about gardening in south-central Texas but an insider's peek into the larger gardening community. That was missing in S.A. before Rock-Oak-Deer came along. Now you're the one doing the inspiring, helping other local gardeners see what can be achieved in our extreme gardening climate. Rock on!

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  11. Good on you, Shirley, as you celebrate. Your garden and your Web log are worth celebrating, each on its own. Taken together, you have a powerful combination. Huge congratulations – with hopes for many anniversaries to come.

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  12. Congratulations!!!! I love your blog and rely on your warm Texas garden to add a dose of sunshine to the usually rainy PNW.

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  13. Your blog and garden continue to inspire me. A virtual visit to your garden or joining one of your tours is guaranteed to being some sunshine into even the wettest northern day. I garden in a different climate with different plants, but I share you enthusiasm for native plants and natural landscaping. I must admit you also inspire serious plant envy at times!
    So thank you and I look forward to more.

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  14. Shirley, congratulation! You did a lot of work, I always love to read your posts and learn your experience.

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  15. Congratulations on your blogversary! A milestone indeed! And I look forward to your seven year itch post!
    I started writing about my garden on my website in 1999, long before blogs were invented (I think, not sure when they started to appear), but then I discovered cookery blogs. I thought I would have a go at making a blog too and I wrote about all sorts of things in the beginning. I later on joined Blotanical and so was my gardening blog borne. Never visited a single gardening blog before I made my own – guess I started the wrong way around!

    Thanks for sharing your story about how you started your blog, all the best for the future!

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  16. Congratulations Shirley! I love your blog and feel so lucky to call you my friend and have you up the street. cheers to you!

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  17. Two years and 300 posts down and you're just getting started. I look forward to all of the posts to come.

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  18. Happy blogiversary, Shirley! My own (more recent) start with blogging involved similar considerations and prompts. Your garden is wonderful and it's great to be able to participate in its evolution by reading your posts!

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  19. Congratulations! I enjoyed reading about how you got started. You seem like a true pro, and I look forward to many more years of reading about gardening in San Antonio! By the way, are you happy with your Buttonbush? They're native here, too, and I'm thinking about adding a couple to my garden.

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    1. The Buttonbush is in the garden where I volunteer each week. It is beautiful and quite the showstopper in bloom. I have collected a few seeds so we'll see if I can get it to grow here.

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  20. Happy Blogaversary! I've enjoyed your blog the whole two years and even remember that first post. I'm so glad San Antonio has a blogger like you! Your garden is getting better all the time. I have to laugh when you say it wouldn't look as good without a blog. Me too! I work so much harder knowing that I'm going to have 'visitors' to my garden each time I post. But I love it. David/:0)

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    1. That is such a fun way to look at it! Yes, blogging is like keeping your garden ready for visitors all the time.

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  21. Congratulations on two years and 300 posts! It seems like I have been enjoying reading about your garden and gardening adventures for much longer. I don't always comment, but I read every post.

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  22. Congrats! 300 posts is a good thing 'cause is means you are still on task with your garden and sharing your ideas. I so enjoy your blog as it keeps me connected to an area I really miss. Wish we did not have to make our move to FW as I am certain I would be tagging along on those great garden tours you share. Keep up the blogging, I know you have more great things to share.

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    1. We miss you around here too C. Your blog for ARE was among the first few I bookmarked way back when and I'll always picture you dunking an entire hanging basket in a tub of water to revive it in one of your container gardening classes.

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  23. I`ve so enjoyed your blog, Shirley. Keep those great posts them coming!

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  24. Thank you all so very much! Your expressions of support are greatly appreciated and encouraging to me. I look forward to another year of sharing gardening adventures and reading your blogs too.

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  25. I am so glad you decided to start a blog and I am also glad I found your wonderful blog...Happy Anniversary.

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  26. Happy blogversary! I started a couple of years ago as well but not as many posts. I admire you for being able to garden in such a deserty place and make your garden so special with xeric native plants, and inspire other gardeners too.

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  27. Happy Blogaversary x two!! I am surprised about you opening a blogger account but not posting for another 18 months! I love seeing another area of Texas, and the plants that grow there, through your blog. My daughter recently moved to San Antonio, and I've told her to use your blog as a reference for what to grow. :)

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    1. I appreciate that so very much. To know that you recommended my blog to help your daughter is very special to me.

      Please plan some time to drop by whenever you are in town I'd love to meet you and give you both a tour.

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  28. Happy Second Blogaversary Shirley! Here's to many more! The garden blogging community is wonderful isn't it? So glad for your blog and the many other great garden blogs out there!

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