The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
The concert hall at the Syndey Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 19,000 times in 2011. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 7 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.
From left: Marty Wingate, Mary Ann Newcomer, Lorene Edwards Forkner & Debra Prinzing (photo, courtesy of Janet Endsley - Northwest Flower & Garden Show)
Hello fellow Bloggers….
Your Seattle Fling team is beginning to recover from last month’s awesome, 4-day horticultural adventure.
Marty was back on the radio last Tuesday (and today), sharing her wit and wisdom with our local NPR audiences.
Mary Ann is putting the finishing touches on her new book, The Rocky Mountain Gardener’s Guide, having returned to Boise.
Lorene is starting work on a new book while farm-sitting on Whidbey Island (read Planted at Home for more details!.
And Debra is on location producing a yummy story about basil for Country Gardens.
We’re moving so fast that we wanted stop and take a breather to ask each and every one of you to share your LINKS to blog posts here in the Comment Section below. Also, please post them to the Garden Bloggers Fling facebook page.
This will give us a permanent, ongoing record of your personal blog articles, videos and photographs about the Seattle Garden Bloggers Fling 2011.
At some point in the future, these may be compiled into a master list, but right now, this is what we’re going with.
Take good care, Garden Friends.
You might think I’m talking about relief from recording breaking heat waves and apocalyptic dust storms – in which case it’s true – our beautiful Emerald City offers a luscious cool respite from the above troubles most of the country is suffering from just now. But I was actually referring to relief from the hassle of lugging all your goodies and gifts home from the up coming Seattle Fling!
Acquisitive (and/or lucky) garden Flingers - there is a UPS store very close to our hotel of record where you’ll find helpful people eager to make your life a little easier for the trip home.
As for the weather? I’m thinking you might be looking forward to a little heat after spending 5 days in our tepid clime. Best comment I’ve heard lately? “this is the longest November I can ever remember!”
Pack layers!
Hello gang, your humble volunteer committee is trying to keep all the balls in the air as we juggle the many logistics with the Fling, plus other personal and professional demands.
It’s all going to be wonderful, but please be patient.
If you don’t see something posted about what you feel you must know now, please give us the courtesy of contacting Lorene, Debra, Marty or Mary Ann directly rather than stirring up a Facebook discussion.
Speaking only for myself, it’s hugely stressful to see the questions circulating and repeated when a simple direct email to one of us could answer whatever you’re concerned about.
And to answer what appears to be the burning Facebook questions of the day, read on:
1. Meeting up/Check in: Occurs at 8:30 a.m. on Friday, July 22nd in the Silver Cloud Inn/University Village lobby. If you don’t know where that is, look for the HOTEL link on this site. The bus boarding for our first day’s touring takes place at 9:45 a.m. Sharp.
2. Packets: Yes, we will have packets with the schedule, garden descriptions and any other pertinent information. And nametags. You will receive this at the Friday check-in.
So, without further adieu, here’s how to reach us:
Debra: dkprinzing@aol.com
Mary Ann: idahogardener@gmail.com
Marty: marty@martywingate.com
Lorene: planted@comcast.net
Safe travels everyone!
We are all set to have a wonderful, 4-day garden, plant, and friendship-filled extravaganza here in Seattle next weekend.
Every moment will feature beautiful surprises, but we’ve planned something extra-special for our concluding party next Monday, July 25th.
As you know, we will spend several hours at the iconic Bloedel Reserve on Bainbridge Island.
Then we will take a short, 30-minute ride to the Kitsap Peninsula, where Heidi Kaster of Dragonfly Farms & Nursery will be our garden hostess (her nursery motto: “Where Abnormality is the Normality” may suit your fancy!).
Heidi is graciously welcoming our event sponsor Proven Winners to set up a lavish cocktail party on her grounds. Can you say yumm?!!! Enjoy this delicious spread while touring the paths, borders and nursery at Dragonfly Farms & Nursery.
We’ve had fun planning this event with Proven Winners’ PR & Brand Development Coordinator Danielle Smith Ernest, a good friend to many garden writers and bloggers. She has created an evening of food, plants and a very special cocktail that celebrates the equally yummy annual you see here: Superbells Blackberry Punch.
Here are more details about this lovely plant, a sample of which will go home with everyone:
The Superbells® Punch Series was introduced to bring a multi-color look to the Superbells collection. This series has a punctuated dark eye to give more depth of color and a unique feel in homeowners gardens. This is the first Calibrachoa introduced with a dark eye that is almost black and a velvet purple rim.
Blackberry Punch was voted one of Sunset Magazine’s “25 Hot Plants to Grow Now.” We love how Sunset describes it: “A flower with the flared shape and rich colors of the finest haute couture gown.”
Here’s a review from Picket Fence Blog.
And another one from Serenity in the Garden Blog.
Oh – and about that dee-lish menu: Along with a full spread of savory appetizers, we’ll enjoy cups of Proven Winners’ signature drink, a Blackberry Punch Cocktail, and some fruit-inspired desserts, including BLUEBERRY/HUCKLEBERRY CRUMBLE WITH WHIPPED CREAM and CHOCOLATE CUPCAKE WITH BLACKBERRY FROSTING AND BLACKBERRY ON TOP!
Here’s a great, affordable opportunity to expand your professional profile and promote yourself as a gardening expert. It’s called GreatGardenSpeakers.com. The project was launched last year by five full-time professional garden communicators, including Fling co-hosts Debra Prinzing and Mary Ann Newcomer (and their cohorts Amy Stewart, Nan Sterman and Scott Calhoun).
More than 150 speakers in the U.S., Canada and the U.K. are featured on this dynamic online speakers bureau that includes experts in horticulture, ecology and design.
You may have heard that Katie Elzer-Peters of The Garden of Words has recently assumed management of GGS. Not only will Katie be here in Seattle as a Fling participant, she also has created a special offer for all attendees who wish to sign up for GGS. Here are the details:
I’ve set up a Fling special offer which is 12 months for the price of 10.
So, it is $50 for 12 months instead of $60.
Use promo code FLING11 during checkout.
Many of you “Flingers” are already listed on GreatGardenSpeakers.com. You can still take advantage and extend or renew your listing, even if you have just renewed (Katie will extend your listing to 2013).
If you’ve always thought, “I should sign up and get listed,” here’s some incentive to do so. It’s okay to wait until next weekend until you meet Katie in person and learn more about her ambitious plans to expand GreatGardenSpeakers.com.
Hi everyone, one more update for traveling to and fro this coming week.
Our official transportation partner, Shuttle Express, has set up a special reservation portal for anyone coming to the Fling. Thanks to Shannon Anderson, our travel coordinator at Shuttle Express, for setting this up.
Click here to make your ground-travel reservations. The discounted shuttle fee is $19 from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport to the Silver Cloud Inn/University District. Some discounts apply to other hotels, too, so please call 425.981.7000 to make individual inquiries.
Shuttle Express also offers a 10% discount if you wish to take a different method of transportation, such as a sedan, limo or private van.
dkprinzing
Lorene
passportsandseedpackets