Over the years I occasionally thought about all the columns I had written since 1980. I enjoyed writing all those columns, but columns are so ephemeral. Here today, gone tomorrow. A friend suggested I write a book. After all, I had all that material.
Writing a book is different from writing a column, but the idea appealed more every day. And one day I sat down and began to write.
Every week I’d hand in my column, and every week I added more to my book. Roses were my theme, but some chapters touched on characters like Elsa Bakalar and Charlotte Thwing. There were chapters about the lightning strike that burned down our barn, daughter Kate’s wedding in the garden and our experiences in Beijing during the Tianenmen Square ‘turmoil.’ All had provided material for my columns.
My husband provided humorous drawings, and son Chris did all the technical work to prepare the book for printing. I thought The Roses at the End of the Road looked beautiful, and then set about selling it. Writing and selling are two different skills, but the book did go out into the world. How could I get publicity?
The www.commonweeder.com Blog is Born
One day my publisher and good friend B.J. Roche, writer and journalist teacher at UMass, said the answer was a blog. In 2008 I had no idea what a blog was. B.J. introduced me to the blogging world and my husband was always available to provide necessary tech help.
My blog, www.commonweeder.com now carries my column a week after it appears in the Recorder. The blog includes other posts about gardens and gardening too. Surprisingly the most important thing the blog did was give me more material. Blogs are written by bloggers and I was invited into the garden bloggers world.
In 2010 I went to my first Garden Bloggers Fling in Buffalo, New York. There I met bloggers from all over the country, from New York to California. They had expertise, energy and lots of laughter. Buffalo was preparing for their Annual Garden Walk event and I got to see what you can really do with a tiny city garden.
There have been 12 Flings from the DC area to Toronto and Portland. I attended four Flings, Buffalo, Seattle, Minneapolis and Austin. Those travels have been documented first in my columns and later in my commonweeder blog.
It is easy to maintain friendships with garden bloggers, because we can always log on and see what they are doing and what’s new in the garden world. Kathy Purdy at Cold Climate Gardening helped me understand how to work with a blog, and all the Ranters over at Garden Rant opened up whole new worlds of garden and environmental issues. Gail Eichelburger at Clay and Limestone taught me about the value of native plants; Carol Michel’s garden invites fairies; and Beth Stetenfeld at PlantPostings took me on a private tour of the Olbrich Botanic Gardens in Wisconsin when we visited there. I could go on and on about columns that included my garden travels.
The point is one thing always leads to another. Moving to a new state and a new little town led to a need for a new job. That job, a weekly garden column, led to actually learning more about plants and meeting fascinating people.
The ephemeral life of garden columns led to writing a garden book. The Roses at the End of the Road led to a need for publicity and so my commonweeder.com blog was born.
My commonweeder blog is a way to preserve all my columns. At least all the columns since 2008. It is also a way to keep a record of my garden. I usually add more photos to those posts. The column provides information about other gardens, techniques, book reviews, new plants, garden design, and anything else that is suggested by friends.
Happily, garden bloggers have instituted ‘memes’ which are days where we can all share information about our gardens, or plants, once a week or month. There is Bloom Day, created at May Dreams Gardens, on the 15th of every month, when we can show what is blooming in our gardens. There is Wildflower Wednesday created by Clay and Limestone. And many more. I can join in the fun and learn a lot. My own post for any meme is one way I keep a record of goings on in my garden.
I also use my blog to keep track of weather in the garden, bloom seasons, problems, and names of plants. I frequently forget the names of plants, but I can always (well, often) turn to the commonweeder and refresh my memory.
I have enjoyed writing Between the Rows and I am grateful to my readers for being such good friends, and good teachers over all these years. Thank you!
As part of my 40th Anniversary Celebration the World Eye Bookshop is selling copies of The Roses at the End of the Road at the discounted rate of $10. All funds are donated to the World Eye as a thank you for all the wonderful books it sold me over 40 years. You can call 413-772-2186 and make arrangements to get the book.
You can also email me at commonweeder@gmail.com to ask about book copies which would be $10.00 plus $2 shipping.###
Between the Rows May 30, 2020
I envy you for having been to four Flings. I attended the Fling in Toronto and signed up for the one in Washington but had to pull out at the last minute. But even after attending only one, like you I now have friends in many cities. Reading their blogs is such a nice way to keep in touch. Maybe I’ll meet you at one some day!
Pat – I missed Toronto, so we did not meet – until now. That is the wonderful way that the Garden Bloggers Fling brings us all together. We share a lot of information – and fun. I’m glad we finally ‘met.’
Ditto!