Beauty Abounds
We had the pleasure of visiting an amazing array of beautiful gardens, both public and private.
Gardeners strolled amongst the gardens gasping and oohing and ahhing at all of the beauty.
Each garden was unique, some were designed by landscape designers and teams of landscapers, while others were created by just one or two individuals. It's amazing to see how each garden has it's own treasures and beauty.
Treasure
It was neat to see all the different ornaments of all the gardens. There were bee hotels, packed with residents, as well as cold frames, greenhouses, and of course lots of unique and unusual garden ornaments.
Water
There were a lot of water elements everywhere, from freshwater pools made for swimming to small ponds with charming decorations. Whether you have a large water feature or small, they are all wonderful in the garden.
Ingenuity
Everyone's garden included lovely ideas of recycling materials like incorporating logs right in the garden, as well as clever structures and decor.
Natives
One of the most inspiring things I discovered on the Denver Garden Bloggers Fling, being a Denver gardener, is the idea of planting native plants that thrive here. Why have I not thought more about this before? Planting native plants that are used to our crazy temperature swings, dry climate, cold springs, hot summers, cold winters, and short seasons is a sure way to success. Why fight to grow exotic plants that need protection and lots of extra water? I'm definitely planting more natives in the years to come in my garden, particularly the Rocky Mountain Penstemon.
Vegetables
My favorite part of a every garden we saw on the tour, no matter how big or small, is the vegetables. Gardeners always find ways to tuck vegetables into perennial flower beds, or some gardeners give them entire areas.
Inspiration
My biggest takeaway from the Garden Bloggers Fling was that gardens come in all sizes, and all of them take time to grow. Most of the private gardens were special places that the gardners spent many years building and growing. So be patient. Your garden will grow, that new tree will soon provide shade, your native perennials will come back bigger and better every year, you'll get the greenhouse or coldframe or whatever your heart desires... all in good time. Don't rush it, learn new things every season, and enjoy your garden! No matter how big or small, if you have a huge budget or if you just make do... your garden will be always be a wonderful place.
Thank you
Thank you to the amazing group of people who made this Denver Garden Bloggers Fling happen! The experience was definitely in my top favorite things I've ever been part of. The people were lovely, I made some new friends, the gardens were amazing, and I came home every night so excited about gardening that it was hard to sleep. :) Nothing better.
Thanks to the amazing Fling planners:
Leigh Pond, April Shelhon, Judy Seaborn, Jennifer Spainhower, Laura O'Connor, of Botanical Interests
Learn more about the Fling:
gardenbloggersfling.blogspot.com
And thanks to all the sponsors for supporting the fling as well as donating all of the wonderful swag bag items & prizes!
John and Bob's Smart Soil Solutions
RAFFLE & SWAG DONORS:
