Garden Blogs of the Month: April 2010
It’s the first week of the month and time for me to feature some new garden blogs that I enjoy and that I think you may enjoy, too. I found myself focusing this month on blogs that teach me something new, and I have two that I would like to recommend.
Ecological Gardening focuses on our gardens as part of larger neighborhood ecosystems. Adrian Ayres Fisher, the blog’s author, is a proponent of “reconciliation ecology,” which involves planning human-made environments (like our gardens) so that they are compatible with other species. My own development as a gardener has led me to think more and more about my ecological responsibilities and about what it means to garden ethically, so this blog really fills a need for me. Adrian is an experienced gardener and a certified master gardener and garden coach who has long been involved in issues of habitat preservation and ecology. She brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to her subject, and she also uses her blog posts to pass on new knowledge she has gleaned from workshops or books. Just about every post includes links that readers can follow to learn more if they wish to, and her list of recommended books made me want to drop everything and run out to the library! This blog is well-designed, well-written, and educational to boot. It is, in many ways, an answer to my prayers, and I find myself looking forward eagerly to each new post.
Blogifolia is educational in a different way, including wonderful little tidbits of information. The author, Joost, does not currently have a garden, but is a student of Garden and Landscape Architecture. The blog has a broad focus on horticulture, including “plants, gardens and gardening, edible/useful plants, Landscapes, garden- and landscape architecture.” So far, most posts focus on individual plants and provide a kind of brief encyclopedia entry on each plant. Some of these plants are familiar to me, and some are not. Because I am a word nerd who loves to learn about word origins, one of my favorite parts of this blog are the explorations of the common names of featured plants in several different languages (usually English, Dutch, German, and French). Because I garden in a very different climate from the Netherlands-Belgium border, I would love it if Joost’s encyclopedia entries also included some information about cold hardiness. I look forward to more featured plants, but also to posts on other topics as the blog develops.
Jean's Garden 
Both of these sound wonderful, Jean, thanks so much for pointing them out to us. I too have begun to think more about habitat for wildlife in the garden in recent years. It certainly gives a whole different perspective to the endeavor.
Frances
Frances, I agree; it is a very different way of thinking about what we’re doing as gardeners. On Adrian’s blog, we’re encouraged not only to think about our gardens as habitats for wildlife, but to think about them as parts of ecosystems that extend beyond the boundaries of our garden. I’m looking forward to learning more about this whole way of thinking about gardening.
Thanks for sharing these sites….I am a word nerd too!
very interesting previous posts about Blotanical. I have not logged in there for MONTHS!
Thanks for stopping by.
Thanks for these links…from another word nerd. 🙂
Rosey and Nancy, It’s nice to know that there are other word nerds out there. Do the two of you like word verification, too? I always feel a bit guilty when others express frustration with this anti-spam system because I feel a little surge of excitement when I see that someone has word verification on their blog comments. I love to think about possible definitions for those computer-generated words or how you might use them in a sentence. (Reminds me a bit of playing Dictionary.) I hope you both enjoy Joost’s explorations of common names in multiple languages as much as I do.
Hi Jean! Thanks for your blogs’ reviews!
Great of you to review blogs and spread the garden love.
Thank you for pointing out these blogs. I have not visited them before. I’m on my way now 😉
More new-to-me blogs! They both sound worth a visit. Thanks for the info, Jean.
Thanks for taking the time to feature different gardening blogs! It’s so great to see what else is out there.
Thanks for pointing us to two new, informative blogs. There are so many blogs I miss. It’s great to get a recommendation!
Isn’t it hard to keep up with all the garden blogs? Sounds like you’ve got a couple of good ones on your list. I learn so much from all the different blogs I read. The blogging craze is great for gardening, I think.
Both blogs sound like they have a lot to offer. Timely information.
Great picks, Jean! I’ve checked both out previously and agree with you. I think it’s wonderful that you feature new and different blogs!
Interesting selection. I am gong to stop by and visit them. I always love finding out about new blogs.
Jen
Thanks allot for showing your readers my blog. Your description about my blog is very nice and accurate. I want to add that my blog is still very young, and there are still allot of things I want to write about. Maybe in the future I will blog about your blog, 😉
Thanks again,
Susan and Rachel, Thanks for visiting. It is fun to see what is out there and to share the garden love!
Tatyana, Noelle, Meredith, Helen, and Jen, I’m happy to introduce you to some blogs that you might otherwise have missed.
Kimberly, It’s nice to know that someone else also found these two particularly interesting.
Deb and VW, I’m finding it more and more difficult to keep up with the new blogs. So rather than trying to keep up, I visit those who visit me; and then, once a month, I quickly skim through dozens of new blogs and pick two or three to focus on.