Five Year Blog Anniversary - and Thanks!

It's hard to believe I've been writing this garden blog for 5 years now.  It was my blog's 5 year anniversary this past week.  No hoopla.  No big giveaways.  But lots of good memories, photos and reflections on my garden to look back on occasionally, and an appreciation for the wonderful people I've "met" along the years, who share my love of plants and bugs and crafts and gardening.

I remember when I started my blog in January 2006, thinking that I would offer gardening advice and share my expanding plant knowledge.  My early posts included such advice as "Flowering Shrubs to Hide an Ugly Fence", and articles like "Mint : Lovely, useful and invasive!".

Very early on, I also discovered the joy of just posting "Garden Glimpses" or photographs of my garden and plants throughout the various seasons.  I still enjoy looking back on these, and comparing the garden and blooms from year to year.

In early 2007, I started my Garden Painting project, and posted my step by step series of additions to the painting, until I finally hung it on the wall, half finished, where it remains today, waiting for my next period of inspiration.

Early on, I used to track my visitors, and what searches led them to my blog.  Early on, it was photos and descriptions of my espalier trees which seemed to bring the most visitors.  Now, other than my regular readers, it seems to be Google Images searches which brings about 100 visitors per day.  Many who click further, and others who don't.

For the longest time, it felt like I was writing mostly to myself.  My brother checked occasionally whether I was making any progress on my garden painting, and then eventually gave up on me entirely.  Then somewhere along the line, I discovered the occasional joy of visitors to my blogs who actually left comments.  One of my first regular visitors and commenters I remember was Irena from My Roots Run Deep, a fellow Canadian gardener in the Toronto area.  I treasured those comments, which were a sign that someone "out there" actually cared enough to read or look at my posts.

I discovered the joy of reading and "following" other garden blogs, and leaving the occasionally comment to let them know, too, that someone cared and appreciated their posts.  Now I can spend entire evenings just following my regular blogs, and following their links and commenters to discover more good blogs to "follow".

In my reading, I discovered that although I loved reading about plants and enjoying photos of new plants (and bugs and crafts and recipes and photography...), I also enjoyed little glimpses into the blogger's world, their moments of pride or joy or sorrow, and quirky observations or discoveries or personal anecdotes they were willing to share.  That has helped to open up and share little quirky thoughts and experiences from my life also.  Whenever I have done so, I have felt very supported and encouraged by my regular readers and other blog visitors.  It is for EACH OF YOU that I am so very thankful, for you have enriched my life as I have poured a little of myself and my love of gardening into this blog for these past 5 years.