 |
| Peony in Nan Chase's garden |
What a whirlwind, wonderful trip I had to the 5th Annual Garden Bloggers Fling. This one was in Asheville, NC (which I fell in love with) and was my 4th fling. Each fling is fabulous and they get even better because of the people - old friends and new ones to make. I hope I have time to blog about each garden we visited separately, but in case I don't I've put together some snapshots to give you an idea of the diversity.
Before I delve into that, let me be sure to thank the esteemed team of bloggers who brought this to fruition: Christopher of
Outside Clyde, Frances of
Fairegarden, Lisa of
Natural Gardening, Helen of
Gardening with Confidence, Nan Chase, Ani, and if I missed you, just know you were appreciated!
 |
| Christopher Mello's tonka trunk garden, West Asheville |
 |
| 'Blue Pearl' poppy that Christopher Mello is developing |
 |
| Shady spot at the Burton Street Community Peace Garden |
 |
| Sunny Point Cafe kitchen garden |
 |
| The compost bin I lusted after at Sunny Point Cafe |
 |
| Tim Spira, author of Wildflowers & Plant Communities of the Southern Appalachian Mountains & Piedmont and Lisa Wagner's husband, identifying some galls while on a native plant walk at the NC Arboretum |
 |
| There was a whole lotta love at Wamboldtopia in West Asheville |
 |
| Christopher pointing out the metal tub surround at Wamboldtopia |
 |
| Peter and Jasmine Gentling's garden was so peaceful. Here Cindy, Andrea and Kelly relax amongst the tall trees. |
 |
| Gail studies the sun's path in the Gentling garden |
 |
| Another invitation to stroll at the Gentling's garden |
 |
| Moss walk at Gentling |
 |
| Hydrangea in the conservatory of the Biltmore Estate. Wish you could tell how huge the petals were! |
 |
| View from the Biltmore Estate |
 |
| Haywood Community College Gardens |
 |
| 'Creation' by Christopher Carrie at his mountaintop home, Ku'ulei 'Aina |
 |
| Barbara, Andrea and Lisa on the path to Bonnie Brae, Christopher's mother's place right next door |
 |
| The view from Bonnie Brae |
 |
| White Garden Inn |
 |
| Nan Chase, author of Eat Your Yard and other books, has a beautiful tiny garden and interesting poplar bark house |
 |
| I loved visiting fellow blogger Lisa's house and garden. She has a typical gardener desk filled with seed packets, writing material, and gardening books. |
 |
| Last but not least, some of the 80+ garden bloggers. Photo courtesy of Pam Penick |
For more on gardens in Asheville, visit the
Explore Asheville site.
Next year's Fling will be in San Francisco, yeehaw!
This post was written by Jean McWeeney for my blog Dig, Grow, Compost, Blog. Copyright 2012. Please contact me for permission to copy, reproduce, scrape, etc.
Jean, Loved this post and getting to spend time with you...There was a clear path for the sun to shine on their perennials! xogail
ReplyDeleteJean, it was so great meeting you. I hate we didn't have time for that conversation! Maybe next time. I sure hope I can go to S.F.
ReplyDeleteEvery picture a feast for the eyes. What a veg. garden and like you say those compost bins, I have them but can never manage the product they are supposed to produce. That super 'love' plaque in the wall. I am really enjoying everyone's postings of the fling. Hope I make SF next year.
ReplyDeleteSo great to see photos of the events we missed either before or after we were there. Wish I'd stayed another day!
ReplyDeleteAaah, what fun it was. You captured many of the highlights my dear friend.~~Dee
ReplyDeleteThat was a great overview, Jean, thanks! It was a joy to finally get time to chat with you at this fling. I love seeing the different venues through your lens, especially since I missed some of them. Looking forward to next year!
ReplyDeleteFrances
what a great trip, i so enjoyed spending it with you and all our other fling friends! i just looked at my pictures today, will hope to get a few up soon! xox, andrea
ReplyDeleteIt's hard to know where to start to talk about this year's Fling, but you did a wonderful job of showing the highlights, Jean. I'd forgotten about that compost bin--wouldn't we all love one like that:)
ReplyDeleteSo nice to see you again!
Beautiful photos, Jean. Thanks for sharing them. It was great to meet you in Asheville.
ReplyDeleteJean, your photography is incredible! The blue poppy with the bee is almost surreal. So enjoyed being you last weekend - somehow I seem to end up with more photos of you than anyone else (and they are all cute).
ReplyDeleteNice overview of our fabulous weekend. I love your photos, you have captured the feeling of the whole trip quite well.
ReplyDeleteFabulous photographs, Jean. I wish I'd been able to come but I used up my USA allowance this year going to Miami in February. Hope to see you in San Francisco, though!
ReplyDeleteBest wishes, Victoria
Lots of 'fling' photo's
ReplyDeleteLoved the Hydrangea and Blue Pearl Poppy.
The vegetable plot with the raised bed edges looked good too.
Thank you for sharing.
Thanks for the glorious photos. I know you had fun in the company of all those wonderful friends and bloggers.
ReplyDeleteDear Layanee, we missed your smile and ever-present wit. Next year!
ReplyDeleteA great overview of my first Fling! Such Inspiration from all the different gardens...
ReplyDeleteYour blog is beautiful! You've done such a fabulous job of capturing the entire weekend-even parts of it I didn't experience-through your beautiful photos that I feel almost like it is still going on!
ReplyDeleteI love getting so many views of these fabulous gardens. And now I can look forward to San Fran!
ReplyDelete