I Blog Because...

There have been a number of posts revealing the basic truth about the blogger, blogging, and other aspects of gardening that I have been inspired to join the ranks.

I blog because I came to a point in my life where that was what I needed and didn't even know it for quite some time.  This has been a year of big transitions for me. I have been a dancer most of life, but thought I might need a better way to make an income as I grew older, so I went back to graduate school.  I came to Los Angeles for the graduate program in Russian at USC.  I loved all things Russian after living there and wanted to share it with others. It was that simple to me. But not that straightforward in a graduate program.

Salvia chiapensis

As I grow older I realize how little I really know myself. I had been doing artistic work for over 25 years and chose to go to graduate school. I had forgotten why I decided not to do just that after I completed undergraduate school in my twenties.  I decided then that I wanted do all things artistic.

From the start graduate school did not agree with me, even though I did well in classes and papers.  I love writing and researching. I thought I could manage on that.  But I longed always for something more expanding.  I gardened then out of survival. My garden was my piece of art. And I naively thought that could be enough.

By the time I had worked on the dissertation for some years, I had to admit that this was not what I should be doing. It was all so intellectual and theoretical. My real joy was the garden, as I had no other outlet for my creativity.  So I stopped working for my PhD, short of finishing, because I could feel my real self melting away. I was getting sick more often and my physical endurance was fading.  I read the signs and quit.

 

Ornamental cabbage with Bellis daisy

I didn't know what to do with myself after that.  My health was shot. I had to sleep for hours during the day.  I read, worked in my garden when I could and played internet solitaire.  I did this for months, berating myself for not finishing the dissertation, while, on the other hand, realizing I should never have started it.

I finally started a journal about my garden.  What was lacking was someone to share it with.  I didn't really know what a blog was then. I'd heard of it, but didn't know what was in one.  I began to search the internet for things to read about gardens. Newspaper articles, how-to sites, finally coming upon some blogs, still not knowing that they were blogs.  Every so often the fleeting thought crossed my mind of sharing on the internet also, but just as quickly the though passed.  I didn't think I could.

In one of my searches I found blotanical.  It was a gullly-washer.  I read so many sites about gardening. And they were called blogs. So that was what a blog was about. I could do that--- or could I? I thought blogging was something teenagers did.  Dare I share so much with so many strangers?  Publish on the web?  The questions swirled.

Gulf Fritillary

Then it came upon me one day. I could try a blog and if it didn't work for me I could delete the whole thing.

From the start, choosing the blogspot, deciding how it would look, I became obsessed. I wanted it all done yesterday.  Finally I was ready to start writing.  I'm still not sure how to write for a blog.  I love writing, so I write what comes to me.  After all, there is not competition here.  I push a button and what I wrote appears on the web instantaneously.  The publisher won't send me back a refusal letter.  And I became so attached to writing on this blog that I wrote every day for one week. I'd write about anything garden. Since I couldn't get out much, I focused on what was before me. The small area I garden. And as I read other blogs, I saw that one could garden on a balcony and still have enough to share with others. Blogging fed something in me that had hungered for some time.

I've been tempted to copy some of the style of others, since I didn't really think I knew how to make a winning blog. There I go again. Winning!! That is not the point of it all for me. Writing, having a passion to share, finding readers.  I'm still finding my blog voice, but I think this will be here for the time being. It has given me a new direction while the rest of my life sorts itself out. I think everyone has their own story to tell about the blog they write.

Why do I blog? I don't really know. The descriptions I give to my blog change daily.  I just know that each time I write and then push that button, I know I have done the right thing. 

I have started. And I am still here.  Why do things happen to us in life? How are we led from one stage to another?  The love for my garden just bubbles up in me and now I can share it with other bubblers.

Passiflora 'Lady Margaret'

Autumn Kinkitis

I don't have the best of the garden to share today, but there are signs of a transition into our kind of fall.  The garden had taken quite a beating the last few weeks between the heat waves and the painters.  And then, surprise, the painters are finished.  Nice little blue and white cottage. And it was so "chilly" outside, I had to wear my bathrobe in the garden this morning to survey the plants.

My tomato is still producing, despite the heat-damaged foliage.

My leafy begonia did not survive the heat. I hope they will produce new leaves from the bulb. I keep watering them.

The path the painters made through my bed to get at the side of the house. It will take some time for this to recover.

My rose bush suffers from heat-melted blossoms and painter sanding dust. I will have to hose off each plant in the garden to give the leaves a chance to breathe again.

One echinacea dried to a crisp by the heat, while its neighbor still blooms. Nature is mysterious. We never know which plant the strong sun will toast and which it will leave to flower.

There is some good news.  Despite the heat some plants have fourished.

Witness my peony rose. Four buds!!

Dragon-Winged Begonia

Rabbit-foot Fern

Staghorn Fern

 Jupiter's Beard

Salvia Chiapensis reblooming!!

If the cool temps remain, even for a week or two, other plants will start to recover, more blooms will appear and my fall garden will flourish.  With every loss comes new life. How happy that the garden shows me this truth in every season.

Now I've got to go to the garden center for a new hose. This one has permanent kinkitis. Who says I haven't been watering!

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day

Bird of Paradise

The Bird of Paradise are really blooming now. Two blooms have opened and I have three more. It's a happy plant this year.  They've come back into bloom since the heat wave is over. 

  

 

Passion Flower 

Also the Passion Flower is the hummingbird's best friend with lots of blooms, as well the ants in the photo.

 

Firecracker Sage

 

Autumn Sage

The Autumn Sage and the Firecracker Sage started blooming in the heat and are gathering for a profusion of blooms.

  

  

Echinacea

 

Orange Zinnia Profusion Mix

Wildflower "Jupiter's Beard"

My garden doesn't have a plethora of blooms. However, it does have some little gems, which I share with you. Enjoy!

(See May Dreams Gardens for GBBD)

Wordless Wednesday

 

  

 
 

  

 

Beginning

Welcome to the first of many blogs. I think it'll be fun! I've written about my garden for years, but never in such a public way. So this is a beginning for me. I've been a gardener as far back as I can remember. My mother handed me my first spade and said, go to work. I planted Bachelor Buttons, still one of my favorite flowers. My secret garden has been an experiment with new plants and learning what will go best, where. It's never complete, but always in the making.

It's the end of August and the heat has taken it's toll on this southern California garden. It's the time for heat-loving plants. The tomatoes, sown in pots on my patio, are still producing, but wilt in the afternoon sun.




The passion flower vine is blooming profusely, as is the firecracker salvia, both plants for the hummingbirds of this garden. The roses that still bloom are short-lived, as the strong sun wilts and dries them quickly.


I've already ordered my fall vegetable seeds from Seeds of Change. I'm going to convert the sunniest beds into areas for vegetables. Most of my garden is shaded by a large live oak and nearby houses, so there is little garden area for most vegetables. I've spoken with my garden spirits (fairies, gnomes, as they are known by other names) and they feel I am right to try lettuce, chard, radish, cilantro and parsley in those spots.