Minneapolis Garden Bloggers Fling - Day 1
Earlier this month, I attended my third Garden Bloggers Fling in Minneapolis, MN. I and sixty-some-odd garden bloggers from all over the U.S. and Canada hopped charter buses and toured the city's best gardens, public and private, for three full days. The Garden Bloggers Fling is a fabulous way to see the lush green spirit of a city up close and in depth, and I was glad to be able to attend.
Each garden we visited deserves its own post, but I've learned from experience that attempting that task is sheer folly for someone who works full-time and needs to tend to her own home, garden and volunteer work! I've yet to post on some of my favorite gardens from Portland's Fling, which I hope to revisit at some point in the near future. But without further delay, here's some highlights from day 1 in Minneapolis.
Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden & Bird Sanctuary (public)
Studio garden of Donna Hamilton (private)
Lyndale Park Gardens (public)
Garden of blogger and author Rhonda Fleming Hayes (private)
Bachman's Garden Center (retail)
Latham "Park" (private)
Noerenberg Memorial Gardens (public)
Kelley and Kelley Nursery (retail)
Garden of Steve Kelley and Arla Carmichiel (private)
There wouldn't have been a wonderful Minneapolis Fling without the tireless efforts of Amy Andrychowicz at Get Busy Gardening, Kathleen Hennessey at :29 Minute Gardener, and Mary Lahr Schier at My Northern Garden. Thank you all so much! If you want to see more photos of these gardens, check out the Minneapolis Garden Bloggers Fling photo collection on my Flickr page.
Words and photos © 2009-2016 Caroline Homer for "The Shovel-Ready Garden". Unauthorized reproduction is prohibited.
Beautiful pics! Somehow I missed the grape arbor and the columns at that garden. I must have been distracted by all the flowers!
ReplyDeleteIt was a lot to see! And the flowers were gorgeous. I completely missed the pump house.
DeleteThose are some great pictures, Caroline! I especially love the first one at the wildflower garden. You somehow managed to take photos where all of us bloggers actually added to the scene instead of detracted from it.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Margaret! I think people in photos make photos more interesting, providing context, interest, and a sense of scale. Plus I love all y'all. :)
DeleteYou got lots of views I missed, and I enjoyed the recap. Like you, I can't cover every single garden we visited. If only there were more time!
ReplyDeleteYou got lots of views I missed! I love reading everyone's posts and seeing the same gardens through someone else's eyes. So many gardens, so little time...!
DeleteIt was such fun and I love seeing your photos... The crowned cat mosaic is really cool!
ReplyDeleteIsn't it cute! It snuck up on me - ! turned around and there it was!
DeleteGreat shots, Caroline. I can really see the value of a nice wide-angle lens on a garden tour. And I actually found myself in one of your shots. From other people's pictures, I beginning to doubt I was actually there (or, more likely, I was just very good at hiding from the camera). Cheers!
ReplyDeleteI can go a little crazy with the wide-angle sometimes. It's easy to push it to the point of distortion. But for those big vast gardens like Eloise Butler and Noerenberg, it really helps. The berry photo is definitely pushing the capabilities of that lens. I brought a macro lens, but it never made it out of the camera bag.
DeleteThank you for the overview of what I missed, it's nice to feel a little of the Fling magic through your (and other's) posts.
ReplyDeleteMissed you in Minneapolis - hope to see you in D.C.
DeleteI love the shot of the Flingers walking across the meadow. All your photos are amazing! It was so nice to meet you, Caroline. Hope we'll meet again at a future Fling!
ReplyDeleteLovely to meet you too, Beth; hope to meet again in D.C.!
DeleteLovely Pics! You did a great job capturing the gardens. Did you have a favorite garden in Day 1?
ReplyDeleteI really didn't, they were all so different; it's like choosing your favorite child, isn't it?
DeleteBeautiful photography, I wish I had time to take more photos myself. Thank goodness I get to see all the gardens through your posts! :-) Haha!
ReplyDeleteI have had to set aside some time to catch up with the garden bloggers' fling visits so I appreciate a taste of all you saw. The weather looked gorgeous and the gardens were clearly well chosen to add variety. I know you had fun. Maybe I'll get back to one someday.
ReplyDelete