Late-winter flora and fauna on my 17th blogiversary
On Valentine’s Day 2006 I hit publish for my very first blog post. Back then I saw blogging as a way to document my garden through the seasons and to join the online conversation about gardening in Austin.
Boy, was it ever!
I’ve been documenting my garden(s) — and gardens across the country, and beyond — for 17 years now. Seventeen years! I could have raised another child in that amount of time.
I still get so much enjoyment out of sharing about gardening and reading other gardeners’ posts on blogs and other social media. The online world has changed dramatically in those 17 years, but I’m still here talking about plants and gardens.
I’m grateful to you for coming to Digging to read and engage about gardening with me. Thank you, readers! You make it a conversation.
And now that it’s a party, let’s see who else is attending. Deer, of course. I walked past this crowd at a neighbor’s house one evening.
It quickly became a staring contest.
Yesterday I spotted a little brown skink on the driveway. Worried he’d get stepped on, I tried to encourage him onto a branch I picked up. Finally though, I cupped my hands over him, and he leaped into my hands.
I carried him over to the island bed, where he promptly kamikazied into the leaf litter. What a cutie!
Winter and spring vie for dominance each February in Central Texas. The earliest trees are already starting to flower, and many plants are pushing up new growth. It’s also the month for ice storms and snowpocalypses. We’re still cleaning up here. Only a few weeks, though, until we’re in full-on spring. Enjoy this last month with no mosquitoes!
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Digging Deeper
Come learn about gardening and design at Garden Spark! I organize in-person talks by inspiring designers, landscape architects, authors, and gardeners a few times a year in Austin. These are limited-attendance events that sell out quickly, so join the Garden Spark email list to be notified in advance; simply click this link and ask to be added. Season 8 kicks off in fall 2024. Stay tuned for more info!
Experience the Surreal Garden at Zilker Botanical Garden, an enchanting neon-art display throughout the gardens, with food and drink, music and dancing, surreal performers, and interactive art sculptures. Surreal costumes encouraged! 25% of event proceeds benefit the Zilker Botanical Garden Conservancy. Runs April 6 (VIP Night), April 7-8, and April 13-15, from 6:30 pm to 11 pm.
All material © 2024 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.
My world would be a lot smaller if you hadn’t started blogging; the ripples are wide! Congrats on the milestone.
Thanks, Loree. I feel the same about you and your blog. Social media has a lot of serious downsides, but this is one of the best upsides — this connection for sharing ideas and fellowship across the miles. Pre-blogging we might have remained in our own silos in different cities. But thanks to blogging we connected and have been able to visit each other’s gardens virtually, and also in person! My world is vastly richer for that.
HAPPY 17th!!! Can’t remember what it was like before I found your blog – then I hit the jackpot for great gardening advice, inspiration and best of all, friendship!!! THANKS, and CONGRATULATIONS! (…& the stock tank looks great!!!)
Linda, I’m so glad to have met you through blogging and become friends! Thanks for reading and reaching out all those years ago. Your creativity and eye for design continue to inspire me.
Is this Linda in San Antonio? If so… YES! THIS! Because of Pam’s blog I got to meet you and visit your wonderful garden.
She flies under the radar, but I’m glad you were able to meet each other, and you got to explore her remarkable garden, Loree.
I’m so glad you started your blog. I love seeing the plants you have and that thrive under your care. It interests me to see the differences between Austin and Houston gardening, even though we are only a few hours away from each other. Congratulations on your 17th anniversary!
Thanks, Nancy! I’m glad you’re here.
Congratulations, Pam! You did great growing your blog and boosting the garden blogging community. It wouldn’t have been the same without you. I think you can justifiably consider it another child 😉
Haha, I think I will! 😉 Thanks for your lovely compliment, Kris. I’m glad to have connected with you through our blogs.
Congratulations, Pam! Not only am I a follower, but I have turned several members of the Dallas Area Historical Rose Society on to your blog.
Thanks so much, Peter! I’m glad to know you.
Whoo hoo, congratulations on the milestone. You are such an inspiration for gardeners across the globe! Happy to call you a friend. P.S.” J’adore the reborn stock tank, it’s never looked better!
Aw, thanks, Caroline. I’m glad our blogs brought us together all those years ago. And thanks re: the stock tank!
Happy blogiversary Pam! I always enjoy reading what you have to say and seeing the great pictures too! This is such a wonderful way to learn from one another, isn’t it? Fifty years ago, when I was a young gardener, a garden log would have been a handwritten journal and a scrapbook. My, we’ve come a long way, huh?
I started out with a handwritten journal too, and then kept a photo journal. Blogging is way more fun! 🙂
P.S. This post sent me off on a search to find how skinks, newts, and salamanders are different. Fun stuff 🙂
Good questions in there. Have fun with your deep dive!
Not only are your photos inspiring but your gift of writing makes me smile when reading your post…”Winter and spring vie for dominance each February” and “enjoy this last month before the mosquitoes”! Perfect expressions!
Thanks, SMichel! 🙂
Congratulations on your 17th anniversary of sharing your wonderful posts with beautiful gardens, something I always look forward to! I found you initially through your meme “Foliage Follow-Up”, a meme which I continue to honor on the 15th of each month. Thank you for your beautiful posts and I hope for another 17 years of gardening delight!
Lee, thank you – and for continuing the Foliage Follow-Up meme with posts about your beautiful garden!
Congratulations Pam! I only wish I had discovered your wonderful blog when I moved here in 2012. Look forward to reading it and continue to broaden my knowledge of gardening.
The new stock tank with the bottle bush is stunning lit up!
Thank you, Vicki!
Pam, a HUGE congratulations on your 17th anniversary of garden blogging. You are a trail blazer, paving the way for us across the country and beyond. An inspiration and a kindred spirit in an ever-changing universe of fabulous plants, weather challenges and bonded friendships. You and Loree were my first and have opened up so many doors since then, thank you for all you have done. I appreciate you!
Aw, thanks, Tamara. The feeling is very much mutual! Your blog is full of gardening passion and curiosity. I’m glad to know you through blogging.
Congratulations on the 17th year of blogging. I so enjoy your writing. I feel a sort of ownership of your gorgeous garden. I would miss it dreadfully if you ever stopped writing about it. I also enjoy the glimpses of your family and their growth. I wish you and yours well and a continuing urge to writing about your garden and the places you tour. It is such a boon to my life.
Lisa, what a lovely note – thank you. Especially on a wintry day, with ice storm wreckage still to contend with. Writing about a garden over time transcends the momentary setbacks, and it’s good to be reminded that it can be meaningful to readers as well.
Congratulations on a great milestone! I wasn’t there at the beginning of your bloggin, but I’ve enjoyed all of your most recent ones. Even though the flora is so very different in my section of the country, I love seeing the variety of plants in Austin and other areas near there. There’s always something new to learn about the gardening world!
Ellie, thank you for following along on my Austin gardening adventures!
Congratulations. Wow 17 years of sharing gardens with others is awesome. We have been enjoying all those pictures of gardens and wildflowers on road trips, also your words on each picture. Thank you.
Thanks so much, Doris! I’m glad you enjoy my posts. 🙂
Congratulations & thank you! Thank you for blazing a trail & creating such an importance resource for gardeners in Austin & beyond. Thank you for inspiring us, educating us, & introducing us to fellow gardeners. Thank you for your leadership & thank you for making such a difference in all of our lives, in our ways of thinking, & in our yards. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Kate, you just made my day. Thank you for your very generous and touching comment. Whenever I think that maybe no one is paying attention to blog posts anymore, I’ll remember your words.
Congratulations on 17 years of blogging!
I have always enjoyed both your photos and your garden.
Thank you, Diana!