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Life In Robin’s Nest: A Garden of Many Colors

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Source: Life In Robin’s Nest: A Garden of Many Colors

I wanted to try out the “press this” browser plugin from my WordPress software. I don’t think I ever have before!

And what better blog to share and feature than Robin’s Nest? I appreciate her visits and comments on my posts, admire her camera work and the bright cheery garden that she shares so generously through the photos.

If you need some inspiration for going out into the garden, I can’t think of any better blog to put onto your list than this one.

Great Garden Blog Reading

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Photo credit: SarahBelham

Here are some great garden blogs and websites for you to visit and enjoy. Some you may know already, and some may be new to you.

A Sense of Place
Green Forks
Balcony Gardener
The Sage Butterfly
Eli’s Place
Grow It Eat It Blog

Do you like cottage gardens? I love them, and Pam’s English Cottage Garden located in the Poconos is just the blog that will delight us with her animals, and cottage flowers.

A side note: So many garden blogs are begun in earnest and then left. It is like a metaphor of many a garden plot. Not everyone is suited for the intense commitment of an occupation or obsession.

For many, the act of writing (or gardening for that matter) is more of a hobby and a brief pastime. There is nothing wrong with that… but what I find is that there are many who show such promise and talent that I wish they had the time and desire to pursue it further.

Everyone needs a break… but if you take one, consider going back to pick up the trowel, or pen and camera occasionally – just to keep your hand in it.

The world is much richer for that.

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Visit Ilona’s Garden Journal on facebook: Click here
© 2013 written for Ilona’s Garden Journal by Ilona E. An excellent blog.

15 Lesser Known, But No Less Great Garden Websites

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In the explosion of garden websites and blogs, it seems we usually visit and talk about the same old usual suspects. Some of which I don’t find all that great, for my purposes, anyway; but lately as I have been writing and looking for more information I have found some garden information gems.

It inspired me to go on a discovery quest, and the following sites are what I’ve come up with. Of course, I’d love it if you added my site, Ilona’s Garden, but that is not included in my list.

I thought I would share these lesser known garden websites with you, and make something of a list of fifteen favorite finds.

  1. Lost Gardens of Heligan  A British site, while the site itself is fascinating and holds hidden treasure such as bird info and inspiring pictures of the gardens (lots of them), it is the blog that interests me as a gardener. Located right here on Blogspot.
  2. Studio G is fairly popular, so maybe you already know it. New to me, it is full of style and with plenty of variety. Written by the co-founder of Leaf Magazine.
  3. In The Garden And More is by Catherine Dougherty who I’ve followed for quite awhile. Her site is chock full of her love of animals and wonder of nature as well as her beautiful garden. 
  4. Jekka’s Herb Farm is for an herb enthusiast. Every herbal garden lover is going to appreciate the “Herboretum“.
  5. Clematis On The Web is extensive information on my favorite flowering vine, the Clematis.
  6. Chickens In The Road… Again, it is popular and you probably already know it, but it didn’t come up on my radar before, and I want you to enjoy it. Mostly it is an all-round farm website, along the lines of Pioneer Woman, but a little less slick and a little more down home.
  7. Backyard Farming is part farm, part garden blog. It is a well illustrated and cleanly laid out site that gives you nice tips and good photos to view.
  8. Ink and Penstemon is a tumblr blog and full of interesting tidbits, posts, and inspirations.
  9. Kitchen Gardener is a website that I like because it is all about Kitchen Gardens, which interest me to no end. A bit slick, but still, a useful site to have on your list.
  10. Opposite side of the spectrum from the last site listed is the Miserable Gardener which has great posts despite the title implying a disclaimer. You have to like short, weird little videos.
  11. Growing With Plants is part blog, part garden site, part design site. All of which make it right up my alley.
  12. Prairie Break is a blogspot blog with plenty of interest, especially with the many photos and good planting ideas for those who struggle with dry conditions.
  13. Little Green Fingers is really a good blog to find if you are gardening with children, or planning to in the near future. Enjoyable.
  14. Toronto Gardens is a blog by the Battersby sisters. It is full of pictures and a fun tour through lots of garden topics. I enjoy them on twitter, too.
  15. Eat, Drink, Garden with Valerie Rice may not be an actual garden website, so perhaps it doesn’t belong on the list, but the promised year long inclusion of a Calender that lists “What To Pick Now” seems like something of great interest to gardeners. Plus, the style news and original watercolors are fabulous.

Gorgeous watercolors shared by Jesse C. Chapman on Flickr. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ // ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Visit Ilona’s Garden Journal on facebook: Click here
© 2013 written for Ilona’s Garden Journal by Ilona E. An excellent blog.

Online Garden Reading, Or What’s Wrong With Internet Gardening

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Garden Project Online.com – Bible Seeds, Biblical Garden Seeds, Free Seeds, Bible Seeds, Bible Plant Seeds, Free Pictures, Bible, Garden Tours,

A site after my own heart. This has the kind of encouraging prose and practical garden tips that just inspire you to “get going and get gardening”. It doesn’t seem to be often updated at this time, but there is lots of information and plenty of pages on all sorts of subjects. Good rainy day or winter cyber garden reading.

“If a man is alone in the garden and speaks,
and there is no woman to hear him,
is he still wrong?
A perfect summer day is when the sun is shining,
the breeze is blowing, the birds are singing,
and the lawn mower is broken.
– James Dent”

Ranting on Internet Changes

Excuse me while I complain a bit.

I have been looking at some of the garden-oriented directories on the web. I am very disappointed to see how many of them are weighted with commercial sites. One of the wonderful things about web-surfing some years ago was the selection of truly original personal web-sites. You must blog and search through the blogs for that now. Crass commercialism has stultified and ruined the web. Yes, I think so.

Sure, entrepreneurial opportunity is important, but it has sold itself out to worthless repetitions in the case of website individualism and the gardener to gardener sharing of ideas.

That is one of the best ways to garden. Better than books or seminars by far. And the web used to be full of truly insightful and quirky web people.

They are still out and around, but the directories aren’t much help in finding them. And no, I am not just complaining because my site is only mediocre. I haven’t put that much effort into of late…that is all 😉

To be below the horizon is a bit discouraging. But …that doesn’t explain the search results of too many blah, cooky-cutter, commercial sites. I mean they don’t even have original content half the time. Just business geeks that buy the ready-made content filler.

NOT ALL… of course there are always the exceptions. White Flower Farm always was exceptional with or without their character, Amos Pettingill. They provide good plant info with some wit and originality. But there is something about the down-home “man of the earth” sort of reporting on the garden that really appeals to me.

Some history on Amos Pettingill, and a bit about white forsythia:
http://www.arhomeandgarden.org/plantoftheweek/articles/White_Forsythia.asp