A Weekend Gardener in the Bluegrass: October 2013

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Reflections from the Garden Bloggers Conference in Atlanta

I recently attended the national Garden Bloggers Conference in Atlanta. The conference was held in the beautiful Grand Hyatt Hotel in the Buckhead section of Atlanta. The conference was attended by 125 people from 25 states and Canada. The attendees included landscape designers, master gardeners, botanists, journalists and bloggers. Although I felt a bit out of my league, it was great being in the presence of some of the "stars" of the blogosphere and gardening world. It was interesting to hear their stories and to learn how they have become successful bloggers.

Some of the sessions included: "Blogging with the Stars: Snapshots of Four Successful Blogs"; "The Business of Blogging"; "A Botanist Walks into a Bar: How to Turn any Topic into a Lively (and Sharable) Story"; and "Photography and Online Branding: Accomplish the Seemingly Impossible". The highlight (at least for me) of the conference was the keynote address by Dan Hinkley. Dan is a plantsman, horticulturist and garden writer. He discussed the many fascinating facets of his career which includes collecting rare plants from around the world, creation of Heronswood Gardens and Nursery, and the ongoing development of Windcliff, his current garden which he and his partner have created on a bluff overlooking the Puget Sound in Washington state.

I returned from the conference with a renewed interest in gardening and in blogging. I hope I can incorporate some of the things I learned from the conference into my little amateur gardening blog.

To learn more about Dan Hinkley's amazing garden:

http://www.danielhinkley.com/

http://www.themarthablog.com/2013/08/more-of-windcliff-dan-hinkleys-amazing-garden-in-indianola-washington.html

ABIGAIL'S GARDEN

My interest in gardening began several years ago when we buried a pet cat named Abigail near a big holly tree in our back yard.

How we wound up with Abigail is an interesting story. Our next-door neighbor, Roberta, lived alone for many years with her houseplants and assorted cats. We were never really quite sure just how many cats she had! Roberta was an excellent gardener who took great pride in her flowers, especially her roses. She offered me lots of advice, from across the fence, on how to prune my roses, when to plant annuals, and other unsolicited tidbits of useful and not-so-useful information.

Roberta died after several years of declining health. Her son and daughter-in-law were left with the task of finding homes for all of the cats. Quite some time after Roberta died, we began seeing one of her cats, a beautiful white cat, in our back yard. The cat especially seemed to like the area near the big holly tree in the corner of the yard.

We found out from Roberta's daughter-in-law that the cat's name was Abigail. She and her husband had been unsuccessful in "catching" Abigail. She appreciated the fact that we were concerned about Abigail, and she told us we could keep her if we were able to capture and civilize her.

So, we began putting food out for Abigail and made efforts to befriend her. She was extremely wary of us. Little by little, Abigail gained our trust, and we were eventually able to coax her inside. She was very thin and frail. We took her to the vet where she was cleaned up and completely checked out and treated by the vet. The vet told us that Abigail was not in very good physical condition.

Nevertheless, we brought her home in the summer of 1995. Unfortunately, the medical treatment came too late for Abigail and within a few days, she died.

We buried Abigail in the back yard in her favorite spot near the holly tree. The next spring, I decided to plant a few annuals to brighten things up a bit. Later, I added a concrete cat statue to mark her burial place.

As time passed, I envisioned creating a seating area in Abigail's garden. I added a concrete bench, planted a few daylilies, hostas, coreopsis and Asiatic lilies.

One summer, I got the inspiration to add a circular brick patio to Abigail’s garden. The back yard is on a hillside with very little level ground. So, little by little, I began shoveling out the area for the new patio.

Since I knew nothing about building a patio, I hired a young landscaper to build it for me. He informed me that he had never built a circular patio, but he promised me he could do it. I was a bit concerned when, one day, I looked out the window and realized he was reading instructions on how to build a patio!

But, as promised, he eventually got the patio built. He added a pathway made of pea gravel and stepping stones to connect the new patio to the existing side patio.

Although the new patio looked good, it was not very functional. I felt it needed to be larger in diameter, and I was unhappy with the way the pathway looked. So,the next spring, I hired the same landscaper to expand the patio. He removed the retaining wall he had built the previous summer, dug deeper into the hillside, added a few more rows of pavers, and then rebuilt the retaining wall. He also rebuilt the gravel pathway with red brick pavers to match the “new and improved” circular patio.

Finally, I had the look I wanted! The addition of a round wrought iron umbrella-table and chairs provided some much-needed seating. Of course, the patio area needed landscaping, and I decided I could do it myself to save money. Little did I know what I was getting myself into! I mulched (and mulched some more!), planted lirope, hostas, and daylilies as well as impatiens, begonias and other assorted annuals. And, as the saying goes, "the rest is history".

What began as a tribute to a lonely stray cat has blossomed into my passion for gardening. Abigail's burial marker now stands proudly amid the perennials and the ornamental grasses. In fact, the fountain grass has grown so much that it covers her up in the summertime. I’m sure she would find it a great place to hide!

Each spring, you will find me trimming the fountain grass, thinning out the hostas, pulling up weeds, separating the daylilies, and planting even more flowers. It's a never-ending job, but that's what makes gardening so much fun. (That's what I tell myself the next day when I can barely get out of bed because of my aching muscles!)

Thanks Abigail for giving me inspiration. I hope you approve of your garden!