I hope you've enjoyed my series of posts about the Garden Bloggers Fling. Are you wondering what the Fling is? Started in 2008 by blogger Pam Penick of the blog
Digging, the first Fling was a small get-together in Austin, TX, of 37 bloggers that lasted one day, although it sounds like there was a bit of pre-Fling Flinging the day before. You can check out links to blog posts made by those intrepid participants
here. Having read some of those old posts, I was fascinated to see how the Fling has changed in some ways, and stayed the same in others.
The Fling has since grown to last three days and attracts 70+ bloggers and PR folks from various companies in the gardening industry. The first I heard of it was not long after I started blogging, when I began reading posts about the 2010 Fling that took place in Buffalo (which you will often see written as Buffa10). It changes city every year, and I discovered that in 2011 it would take place in Seattle. I attended enthusiastically, saw some wonderful gardens and made friends with several garden bloggers. Last year the Fling took place in Asheville, but I didn't go. I went this year to San Francisco and had a blast! Next year it will be in Portland, OR, and I can hardly wait.
The Fling has its own blog, which you can follow
here. And it has a Facebook group, where (if you're on Facebook) you can interact with many of the bloggers who attend and get updates on Fling news. Check it out
here. In general, it costs in the neighborhood of $250 -- $300, plus you pay for your own airfare and hotel costs (they usually get a pretty good group rate on the hotel).
I haven't written about every garden and event that was on this year's itinerary. Check out this year's Fling itinerary
here. There were a few gardens where I just ran out of energy, was too hot for comfort, took crummy pictures (OK, more crummy than the crummy ones I've posted), or didn't take enough pictures to put together much of a blog post. Anyhow, here are some miscellaneous photos from the Fling.
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| Lanterns at Shirley Watts' garden in Alameda |
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| Water feature and mirror in Matt Gil's sculpture garden |
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| Kangaroo paw in Matt Gil's garden |
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| Birds soar over the Conservatory dome |
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| Planted wall at the Sunset Western garden |
I've had a thing for orange in the garden lately, but I really fell completely in love with orange, and orange-red, over the course of the Fling.
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| A great duo, orange Helenium and orange Carex testacea |
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| Bright Cannas at the Sunset Western garden |
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| Red Passiflora |
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| Protea flower |
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| The Golden Gate Bridge wreathed in fog |
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| Pollarded trees at Filoli, an estate garden on the Fling itinerary |
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| People cool off a bit in the shade on a hot, hot, hot day! |
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| Bloggers cool off in a pool at the Testa-Vought garden |
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| Grevillea flower in the Testa-Vought garden |
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| Rebecca Sweet's potting bench |
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| The interior of Rebecca Sweet's garden shed/studio |
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| Teapot fountain in the Dudan garden |
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| Seldom seen shade |
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| Brightly painted concrete in the Meadows garden, again with that interesting wavy edge |
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| Tigridia pavonia in the Keeyla Meadows garden |
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| Brightly colored alcove with a tile patio in the Meadows garden |
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| The entire Fling group, photographed on the steps of the Conservatory of Flowers by Saxon Holt |
Whether you're a new blogger, or an old one, think about coming to the Fling next year in Portland. I have high hopes that it will be awesome!
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This is my last post about the 2013 Garden Bloggers Fling. To see others, click on the links below:
Some Pictures From Today's Fling Outings
My Favorite Fling Garden
Organic Mechanics Garden -- Fling 2013
The Ruth Bancroft Garden -- Fling 2013
A Photography Workshop with Saxon Holt -- Fling 2013
