The awesome crowd at my talk last Saturday

My 7th blogiversary came and went on Valentine’s Day, and I forgot all about it until last night. Seriously, it’s a wonder I remember my own name after the whirlwind ride of last week. My book, Lawn Gone!, debuted on Tuesday, and I’ve been focused on publicity for it, plus working the busy spring season for my design clients, and then on Saturday I gave my first public talk and book-signing at The Natural Gardener. What a ride!

When I showed up at the nursery, it was about 45 degrees F, which is pretty chilly for us Texans. But the day was sunny, and the nursery was humming with early shoppers. My fears that no one would come because of the cold—the garden talks are held outdoors under a tent—were soon laid to rest. And when I stepped inside the gift shop for a moment, I had the thrill of seeing my book prominently displayed. Woot!

My friend Shirley Fox, of the terrific San Antonio blog Rock-Oak-Deer, kindly shared her photos of the event with me. This is me speaking. I’m happy I don’t look like a total dork (I’m sure she edited those out), and I’m even more happy and grateful for the crowd of eager, inquisitive, enthusiastic gardeners who showed up on that cold morning to hear my talk. If any of you are reading this, THANK YOU so much for making my debut speaking experience so fun. A special shout-out to those who drove in from out of town: Shirley, John, Caleb and mom, plus a few others whose names I didn’t get—you guys rock!

I also had a support crew of blogger friends and other dear friends whose smiling faces in the audience made me feel comfortable and who took photos for me, brought me water, got my posters back to the car, and helped me not forget to attach my head to my shoulders in all the excitement. Thank you so much!

The talk was fun, the audience asked some great questions, and if anyone fell asleep I didn’t notice. And then things became kind of surreal, as I walked over to the deck to sign books. Look at the line! People were standing in line, looking through my book, and waiting for me to sign it.

I was so surprised, delighted, and honored. The Natural Gardener sold out of their stock of Lawn Gone!, and I met all kinds of friendly, interesting people as I signed. Big, BIG thanks to the great folks at The Natural Gardener, Rosina and John especially, for inviting me to speak, publicizing it so well, and making the experience so enjoyable.

What a lovely way to wrap up my blogiversary and debut-author week. I’m so glad to be a part of such an enthusiastic, passionate, and supportive gardening community, here in Austin and here online as well!

All material © 2006-2013 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

Listen up, fellow garden bloggers! It’s time to register for the 6th annual Garden Bloggers Fling, to be held in San Francisco June 28-30. Registration is limited, so don’t delay. While details are still being finalized, rest assured that organizer Kelly Kilpatrick is putting together a great slate of private gardens, public gardens, and nurseries for us to visit. I can’t wait to reconnect with my garden blogging friends—and meet new ones!

All material © 2006-2013 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

Les at A Tidewater Gardener, an excellent nature photographer, always ends the year with a look back at his favorite photos from the year, and he invites other bloggers to do the same. Without further ado, here are my favorites from 2012.

The first two happen to be from a spring visit to Dallas Arboretum. I made the visit for the Chihuly exhibit, which was stunning. But so were these gomphrena growing beneath the taller stems of drumstick allium. I like this image for the graphic quality of the lines and dots of stems and flowers, the river of gomphrena flowing through the allium stems, and the beautiful color scheme.

My second image, also snapped at the Arboretum, is of two little girls in their Communion Sunday finest, waiting to be photographed in the garden, their mothers standing nearby. I caught them in a candid moment, framed by greenery and pink and white cleome blossoms, looking, well, as pretty as a picture.

My third image is a reflecting pool in the Bonnell Drive Garden, which was on the Austin Open Days tour last fall. The light, reflecting off the golden wall and across the length of the pool, framed by shadowy foliage on the left, is the real subject of this photo.

Bright desert light brings a different quality to my fourth image, a spray of agarita backed by an ornamental grass in the Capri Lounge garden in Marfa, Texas. The yellow-green hue and fireworks-like explosion of lines draw me to this image.

I like the soft textures and the play of light in my fifth image, from the Rockcliff Road Garden on last fall’s Austin Open Days Tour. The arbor at upper right also nicely frames part of the scene.

My sixth image is a study in blue. I spotted this blue-white cactus euphorbia in a blue bowl on a pale-blue bench in the garden of Alan Richards in Tucson, Arizona.

Travel led me to my seventh image as well: a bee buzzing a poppy blossom in the Burton Street Community Peace Garden in Asheville, North Carolina. The super-closeup view creates an almost otherworldly mood.

The black-and-white striping and texture of a creosote bush in Big Bend National Park, framed against a blurred-out gravel background, turns an ordinary desert plant into graphic sculpture in my eighth image.

My ninth image is from home—my own stock-tank pond with blooming ‘Colorado’ water lilies, and an inviting trio of Adirondacks in the background, framed by golden thryallis. It’s good to have at least one favorite image from one’s own garden, wouldn’t you say?

So if you blog, are you interested in playing along? If so, round up your favorite images from 2012 and add your link in a comment on Les’s post. It’s fun to see which photos people choose and why.

And if you’d like to see more, here are my favorite images from 2011.

All material © 2006-2013 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.