Sherry. Go to Blogger.com, click Create Blog, follow the instructions, and you're blogging! Read other blogs, not just garden blogs, note what it is about them that you like and dislike, and you can get design ideas for your own blog.

I began my blog two years ago to have an outlet to share my roses. I grow a lot of rare roses here, and I wanted to put up a web presence so other gardeners searching for info will find what I have written. (Lately, my new David Austin garden has been getting hits from all over the world.) The blog is now about much more than roses, including my renovation projects, and whatever else I want to write about. Lately, with the gardens being asleep for the winter, folks have gotten a healthy dose of 'whatever'. My new kittens figure heavily into the plan, because they're so cute and full of personality.

If you need help, I'll be happy to do whatever I can for you.
Connie

Here is a link that might be useful: Hartwood blog

I don't want much - just divine simplicity and elegant beauty

That's rather difficult to achieve you know, as it is probably the hardest to design. :D

I never manage to keep up my own blogs, as I keep forgetting to write something there, then I figure that last post was 2 years back and abandon the whole thing altogether. I suppose I just suck at writing diaries (the reason also why I do not use Facebook or Twitter, as I just don't see a point in recording all insignificant events in someones life, just for the sake of talking fix).

So overall I do not know a lot about the fun involved, but occasionally I help some tech-challenged friends to set theirs. If you want more personal touch you probably would be best off designing some elements (i.e pictures) yourself and uploading them as a header of your blog, also as all sorts of buttons, etc. It also gets more personal once you add content, as it adds structure, links and actual unique information.

oh yes, Sherry - you must. You surely have some inkling how keen we all are to read about REAL gardens and REAL people - not the manicured and primped garden professionals, not the endlessly repeated magazines and design books and emphatically NOT a dull how-to. Nope, we want to read about other people's disasters so we can feel smug and we want our ideas validated by hearing how someone else has already been there. We want uncertainty and agonising, we want to hear of the despair of dying seedlings (so we can not feel so bad about our own) and mostly, we want to share your journey through gardening without the corners rounded off and the messy bits censored....and hey, Sherry, we all know you are a natural at that. Confiding, exhorting, supporting and even the occassional scoffing. Do it...NOW

I would be tempted if it wasn't for the photo aspects - can't take em, can't up load em, even if any turned out and wouldn't even want my tatty gardens and laundry (literally) revealed for all and sundry (garden shared by pets, washing lines, bikes and trailers, compost bags, old pots, daily dog poo and muddy boots)- unless it was a comedy blog. Maybe one day.

Blogging can be whatever you want it to be. My favorite aspect of blogging is the feeling that I am a member of a community of like-minded individuals ... a lot like here. I have made friends, both online friends and real in-person friends, by visiting other blogs and getting to know the bloggers I seem to identify with.

If I find a blog that I really enjoy, I list in on my sidebar in my 'Blogs I Enjoy' section. That way, my readers can find out about them, and I see whenever a new post is uploaded.

There is a lot of great writing, beautiful photography, and fun articles out there in the blog world. Just like this forum, you can visit blogs you like, ignore the ones that annoy, and have fun.

Connie

I got into blogging recently and unwillingly. The author of a book I read a few years ago said disdainfully that hardly anybody would want to read about the minutiae of someone's daily count of sneezes and indigestion pills. This is what blogging was to me for quite a while:-).

However, little by little I started reading other people's blogs and some of them turned out to be very interesting reading. Also, it finally dawned on me that I have no way of organizing the pictures I keep taking. I started a rose blog as a means of keeping track of all my rose pictures (including the thousands from the San Jose Heritage Rose Garden). That still didn't solve the problem of what to do with other pictures, such as the California mission trips I posted on this forum awhile ago. So the blog later morphed into a general gardening/photography blog. My latest post there was winter in San Francisco.

{{gwi:330691}}

That still didn't solve the problem of what to do with all the personal pictures I take of our family activities which I was not willing to put on a public forum. I was getting tired of attaching dozens of them to dozens of email addresses, and I don't do Facebook. So I started another blog, by invitation only, of our family pictures. I believe a private blog is safer for this, and also an average person would hardly want to see thousands of pictures of someone else's kids, although I do try to make it interesting (here's a shot of my son's tumbling practice)...

{{gwi:330692}}

Photographing roses in high sun-glare is entirely different from taking pictures of fast-moving kids in low light conditions (and no flash allowed). But I am learning, it is fun, and I write one post instead of dozens of emails.

Masha

I suspect a large part of the appeal is, as with putting up your own web site, you don't have other people popping up after you type something and telling you you are "full of crap" - as has actually happened to me here. The downside of this is, of course, that when there is no discussion or debate bogus statements can and do sit there for as long as the pages are kept up. There is a ton of baloney out there - just about gardening and landscaping alone. Even on a conversation oriented site like this people post all kinds of rubbish, that remains in place to mislead the uninformed or unwary.

Masha, I would love to see your public rose blog, as would others, I'm sure. Would you be willing to post your link? I have enjoyed the photos you have posted on these forums, and it would be great to see your blog, and be able to 'visit' the San Jose Heritage Rose Garden through it.
Sandra

Sandra, I appreciate your interest very much. I have done 15 posts in my gardening blog so far, and I haven't even started on the SJHRG roses.... I have all the pictures assembled but it is a mammoth task. I do need to finish before spring;-). I will send you a link as soon as I feel my blog is ready to be viewed. I liked reading yours, by the way, your presentation is very nice, so many great pictures, very colorful.

Sherry, converting will be easy for you. I just remembered your advertising campaign for old roses, that would be a good start. I think your blog will be fun to read.

Masha

Oh, Thank you, Masha!
Sandra

Thank you, everyone, for your thoughts - all very encouraging. I guess it's just a matter of diving into the unfamiliar and making it familiar. Blogger.com is exactly what I'm using. I added a photo behind my header, and 'simple and elegant' isn't exactly what it is, but I like it. Funny how you know what you like, and then it doesn't remotely end up being what choose. The title is proving to be troublesome. I'm trying to work the word sweat into it. LOL, I guess I won't be "converting" the more refined among them. Masha, thanks for reminding me of the ad campaign. I think you're right.

Sherry

Well, here it is. Maybe some more editing will help. Not much humor in the first post, but it's done.

Sherry

Here is a link that might be useful: My Blog

Hi Sherry,

Your blogging idea sounds like a good one. You have a forum here in which to post the blog's address (right after your signature) so it will surely get read. And there are a lot of gardeners, and lots of people reading this forum. (Not to mean that you have to stick with gardening topics.)

Each of us has their own personal preferences for what we like to see in a blog, and I don't always like to see the same things from day to day. One thing I always appreciate is someone who's willing to admit what they don't know or why they tend to believe what they tend to believe, without trying to nail down the idea as gospel that everyone else should agree with. You're a natural at both those orientations; you seem real, so a real person is curious as to what you have to say. You also obviously love to write. You're good at it.

>Mine will be The Dumb Gardener niche, achieving success by aiming low. (I know you all hate hearing me talk this way, but it's the real me!!)

Honestly, a "Dumb Gardner" seems put on and unreal. Sherry, you know a thing or two, and you want to share what you do know and what you do feel and what you do wonder about. The over-modesty seems hackneyed, as well as unreal. Even someone who has been growing roses almost forever doesn't pretend to have to know everything to be able to share those things they do know and have learned along the way in a journey that never ends. I'm thinking of Peter Beales, or Michael Shoup, or Gregg Lowery, or Jeri Jennings... but I think it's true for every one of us on earth, no matter what the field of knowledge.

You can be honestly modest without being unnaturally self-critical. Example: You could say, "What a dumb person I was to not have known X was going to happen after Y...." Or you could say that "What an interesting surprise! Something I never would have guessed about Y... because, you know, after something I thought was so similar - A - then B always follows..." The second version is so much more interesting because the reader is following along with your reasoning and feeing the surprise along with you. The focus is on the subject, not yourself. Feelings matter and can be interesting too, but a bunch of self-flagellation can get boring fast.)

Don't aim low, Sherry. I know you DON'T do that, so I don't need to say this, really, except that you might add on that veneer, thinking that it's a sort of "I'm one of you" attractor. But it isn't. If someone really actually were aiming low, a site visitor wouldn't want to read what they had to say; the reason someone is reading someone else's writing on the internet is that they want to aim a little higher and to find ways to help them do that. We're all aiming higher, not lower, Sherry, or we wouldn't be wanting to hear what you have to say.

>I don't want much - just divine simplicity and elegant beauty.

It's fine to want that, but it's too tough to shoot for, Sherry. Just try to express yourself naturally.

There may be times when you look back and like your own writing, and times when you eventually figure out that you could have expressed yourself more effectively on that particular day. Don't have such a high goal that you end up with stilted writing in a forced effort to achieve something in particular. Don't copy high-fallutin' prose styles anywhere or try to be someone you're not. It won't work.

Just imagine that a close friend is visiting, and then tell that close friend whatever it is that's on your mind that day, whether it's an ah-hah celebration or a frustrating experience. Or just enjoy telling someone something useful for when they might be in a similar situation.

>And all with little or no gardening experience!! Heaven help me if anyone should post a question.

Most people have little or no gardening experience. So if it were true that you have little or no gardening experience, there would certainly be lots of people who could relate to you and want to know about your learning experiences at their level. But that's not an accurate description of your several years' devotion to roses, Sherry. New gardeners would still like to know some of the things you've learned along the way, even though you're much more experienced than a newbie.

I've never seen an expert in any area who knew everything. If someone asked Peter Beales/Michael Shoup/Gregg Lowery/Jeri Jennings enough questions, they'd all come to some questions they didn't for sure know the answer to. When you want to guess at an answer, just be sure to say that you're not certain, but here's the reason you're guessing the way you're guessing.

One other suggestion: If you happen to like photography and/or art/design in general, you can have a lot of fun learning more about page layout design. By "learning more" I mainly mean that you try doing it, and then keep doing it, and keep doing it some more, until you have a rough idea of what you think looks good. Just keep refining your ideas on what you think looks good, right down to the colors that appear together as the visitor scrolls down the page. Pay attention to print size, font uses, and everything that you notice when you look at a beautiful gardening magazine or book. All those same kind of ideas are at work on a webpage. Or not. It doesn't have to be perfect, and you don't have to start out with doing everything (or doing everything "right")--just start with the easiest improvements over a no-design webpage and work up as you go along. Pay attention to spacing, to balance, to print density... in short, make yourself into a little publisher, in whatever amount of time you want to devote to it.

Do ask visitors to sign a "Howdy, I visited" guest book or something like that. Most visitors probably won't bother, but those that do will give you a big boost. (You won't enjoy writing into a void that feels as if no one ever reads what you have painstakingly created to be seen and read.)

One thing to mostly avoid is probably to create a zillion different piles of links to outside websites. Too many webpages do that, and after awhile when you land and see that, you wonder why the writer hasn't spent the time more creatively than sending you to someone else's website, which might be yet another pile of outside page links. (And after awhile you already have most of those links saved somewhere anyway.) You're mostly looking for real content when you spend the time visiting someone's website, not just road signs to more roadsigns to more roadsigns in traveling the internet universe.

If you want to create different little piles of links, think more about little piles of links that point toward your own contributions. Pile related ideas into subtopics. (Ex: "Favorite nurseries and what I like about them (maybe you have three different blogs that can be linked here). Where I like to buy things in or near Ocala, Florida (maybe you wrote about shopping trip experiences five different times). Pictures of houses I like the streetside landscaping on, near Ocala, Florida. Restraurants I really like in cities x, y, and z. Gardening/horticultural courses available in central Florida and what I know about them. Pictures of my recent trips (different blogs about your trips to Georgia, Virginia, New York...)" It doesn't matter that all these topics already appeared once in your blog. It's nice to have them organized so that browsers can find those particular blogs that are likely to contain information they might be most interested in.

>I'm embarrassed to ask and by so doing expose my gross inadequacy.

Quit this stuff, Sherry. The only inadequate person is (maybe) the one who doesn't know that the way to find out things is to ask questions.

Just keep getting feedback once in awhile as you go along. If a comment rings true to your own ears, then pay attention to it. If not, then ignore it. (The comment might be good for someone else, but it's not good for you.)

Express yourself... no one else, just yourself. The better you get at doing that, the more your readers will enjoy getting to know you as an individual.

Best wishes,
Mary

P.S. What you think about various books you read, and why you think that, is a natural topic for a blog too. Oh, that reminds me! I read an interesting article about Winston Churchill today...

Here is a link that might be useful: The New Yorker magazine - The making of Winston Churchill

Sherry, it looks nice, the picture looks good as a header and it is simple and elegant enough imho.

If you wish to delve deeper into the designing, you might want to download some more special fonts, as writing some headers with nice font can make a difference. It works like this, you go to the site that offers free true type fonts, for example http://www.webpagepublicity.com/free-fonts.html download them and put them in your PC (it is explained how in that site), then you should be able to use them in picture editing programs (I don't know what you are using, but for example Gimp (http://www.gimp.org/) is good elaborate free open source program to do big designs, there are also a score of smaller free ones, also things like Photoshop, etc.).

On a side note, you can't write things directly in your blog in some fancy font (as it is rather difficult to make it so that other people see it), but it is done like this for the headers: you put the font (text) on the photo in the photo editing program and just upload picture with the ready text on it. :)

Very nice, Sherry!
Informative, well laid out, lovely photos.
I will enjoy seeing it grow.
Sandra

Here is a link that might be useful: Roses, Color, and Light

Mary, I do so appreciate your constructive criticism. I'll have to read it more deeply when I get home. Rest assured there will be no moaning about my inadequacies - rather I'll have to keep my know-it-all attitude in check. I was just moaning to my buddies here which, of course, held the risk of sounding "hackneyed and unreal" but was actually as real and laid-bare as I get. Sorry. I do hate to sound like I know more than I do, and with friends - even hidden behind a monitor - I prefer to be me. Then I'm sure that their respect and affection is real, too. You said, "One thing I always appreciate is someone who's willing to admit what they don't know or why they tend to believe what they tend to believe, without trying to nail down the idea as gospel that everyone else should agree with. You're a natural at both those orientations; you seem real,". This makes me feel GREAT. Thanks.

Elemire, thank you so much! The lack of fonts and the restrictive placement of the titles was very frustrating to me. It's good to know I can do those right on the photo. You're VERY helpful.

Thanks, Sandra. Onward and upward. The tweaking begins.

I wonder if there's any way to expand out of that column of space. At home I have a widescreen monitor with a lot of empty space on the sides. At work I don't and have to slide the bar at the bottom to see it all. But I guess that's what a template is.

Sherry

Congratulations on your first blog post, Sherry! I loved reading it!

We all know that Old Garden Roses are not as popular as they deserve to be (except on this very special forum of course ;-)) so I think in writing about OGRs you found already a niche. As you pointed out by yourself in your post and in your blog growing roses in Florida is a very specific adventure because of the unique growing conditions, so there you have it your second niche. I think this is more than enough reason to write the blog that you want to and I believe people are almost waiting in line to read it. The last argument because I think YOU should write a blog is that you have such a special way with words. Your writing style is so charming, down to earth, honest and engaging and your love of OGRs comes through in each line, that I truly believe people will greatly enjoy reading your blog.

On a personal note: I am toying around with the idea to write a blog about roses and gardening for a long time myself, but I am afraid of the work that is involved with it and that I don't have the drive and persistence to keep it going and even more important interesting long-term. Maybe I start out with an "invitation only-blog" open to a limited number of garden friends in the beginning as a test run. If it doesn't work out I can go dark without too much embarrassment :-)!

Christina

ah well, I so-called blog about things that are interesting to me. That includes tv, cooking, decorating, drawing, gardening, costuming, etc... I've been keeping an online blog/diary since 1998, roughly.

I keep things that are very personal to me private, but I share a great deal about my weird hobbies and events I go to.

I also tag all my photos and events to make it easier for me and others to find relevant posts.
I warn you, muggles, if you decide to cross the rubicon and read my blog, I'm very dorky.

Here is a link that might be useful: Aimee's Journal

Sherry, I think your blog looks great so far! Keeping things simple with not too many concepts all in the same spot is best, IMHO, for web design and I think the header image you chose is charming.

I wouldn't worry too much about competing with other blogs. Just talk about what is interesting to you, and chances are other people will be interested, too.

I really enjoyed your blog! I started one about 2 years ago and have really had fun with it. I blog about my garden and all I grow in it as well as birds that visit. The best piece of advice I was given about blogging from people that have been doing it for longer than me was to keep it fun for yourself. Also, the more you visit and comment on other blogs the more people that will visit yours.
I'm amazed at how much I've learned about computers, photography, writing and gardening since starting.

Catherine

Here is a link that might be useful: A Gardener in Progress

Great job, Sherry. You write beautifully. I really enjoyed reading your blog.

I started blogging just because I wanted to write down my adventures at the Heritage and rose rustling and anything else that happened that I felt like writing down. I don't post very often, especially when I'm not doing anything particularly interesting with regard to roses.
Jill

Here is a link that might be useful: My Blog

I wonder if there's any way to expand out of that column of space. At home I have a widescreen monitor with a lot of empty space on the sides. At work I don't and have to slide the bar at the bottom to see it all. But I guess that's what a template is.

Well it is a bit tricky part. Thing is that the size depends on the resolution the monitor is set to show things. The higher resolution, the more space will be on the sides, especially with wide screen monitors. It is just something you can't do much about, as some people still use very low resolutions (to have text bigger or just have ancient PCs), as well as some have high resolution latest monitors, so overall you just take more or less average, that it is viewable on most. I think blog templates already took that into account.

If you find the empty space on the sides annoying, you can look for some textures to fill it in. Texture usually is a small graphical file (picture), which is then multiplied in the background, forming a pattern.

To expand the space you need to change the code just a little. If you search on the Internet you should get an answer. It is pretty easy.

Jill, I love your blog. I wish I could find a way to subscribe.

Masha

Here is a link that might be useful: A Rose Is a Rose

Masha, and anyone else who uses Blogger, you can use the Blog Roll widget to add blogs to the sidebar of your blog.

Go to your Blogger dashboard (by clicking on the red Blogger logo B in the upper left corner of any Blogger page.
Click the 'Design' option.
Click 'Add a Gadget'.
Choose Blog List from the options in the pop-up menu.
Click the 'Add to List' button at the bottom of the resulting pop-up.
Copy and paste, or type, the URL of the blogs you want to appear on your Blog Roll.

I use this feature for my blog to have my most favorite blogs easily accessible, so I see when new posts have been uploaded. As soon as I saw Jill's wonderful blog linked here, I went straight over to Blogger and added it to my sidebar.

Sherry, your blog uses the same template that I use for my now-dormant Greyhounds Rock blog. (maintaining two blogs was too much for me ... I just put any greyhound stuff I have now into my regular Hartwood blog.) You don't have to play with the HTML to change the width of your columns. From the same Design page I referenced above, you can click on Template Designer, and it will bring up the Template you are currently using, with a menu of choices on the left. Click 'Adjust Widths', and you can adjust the slider to widen or narrow the text and the sidebar. I have my text column width set to maximum at 1000 px and my right sidebar set to 230px. These settings allow me to display my photos at Extra Large size (The photos I use are all 640 x 480, to save storage space and allow pages to load faster.)

One of the best bits of advice I got when I started blogging was to create a second blog to use as your test blog. You can make this test blog hidden, so only you can see it. It's there for you to try out your changes and widgets, before putting the changes live on your real blog. There have been a couple of instances where I made a real bonehead mistake (like having a super huge font) that I caught while I was playing with the test blog.

We were all beginners at one time, and you will quickly come up to speed.

Connie

Here is a link that might be useful: Greyhounds Rock Blog

Masha, I was going to send this privately, but your email isn't listed on your GW page. Your blog isn't displaying correctly when I click on your link. Everything is too large, and it scrolls off the right side of the screen (I have a wide screen laptop). I can send you a screen-capture if you want.

sorry for the personal message on the public forum. As you were, everyone. :)

Thanks Connie. You have mail. I can't update my member page on GW for some reason, it won't accept changes. You are the first person to say there are problems and thanks a lot again for taking the trouble to point it out. I appreciate it greatly.

Masha

Thanks, Connie, when I set it up, I adjusted the width to 1000px, and the pics I have loaded are 600X450 so they're almost as big as yours. I'll start reducing them to 640wide. I used the Preview before I published. Maybe that accomplishes the same thing as a test blog, because I was able to go to the other tab and change things. Thanks for all the help. That's a good reason for keeping the list of blogs there. I didn't realize it updated like that.

Headed for the hospital to see Dear Son who came through the transplant just fine!!

Sherry

I use my test blog if I am making some sort of universal change to the look of my blog, or if I am learning to do something new ... like imbedding video. It is a separate, independent blog (that I have named Hartwood Test Blog) and I put in dummy content. It's not visible on my profile, so it doesn't matter what I put there.

Just today, I was messing with font sizes. I didn't want to take the chance of hosing my real blog, so I tested my ideas on the Test Blog. They looked like crap, so I left things as is.

Congratulations on your son's transplant!!!!

Connie

Masha- thanks. I found out how to add a subscription to the page, so you should be able to do it now.
Jill

Sherry....

Thanks for starting this thread. I am new to the world of blogging, too.

Altho' I love living in a small mountain town, unfortunately, technology did not follow me up the mountain. We can't high-speed internet access up here, yet.
When I tried to open your blog, I could read some of what you had written ... and loved it, but got timed out by the server before the whole blog loaded up.

The same is true for all of the other blog links, exept for Jill's. In a way, I guess I am going to have to miss out for now, but I did enjoy what I could see of each of your blogs ... and got the kitchen cleaned while they were loading!

Thanks to all of you for being willing to share your thoughts and experiences.

Smiles,
Lyn

Sherry, congrats, the blog looks great. I have added it to my list of blogs that I read. I love Connie's blog, although it makes me feel horrible that I can't fix up my house or garden like she does. But I can live vicariously through it!!!

I have a blog, but again, I am much too lazy and unorganized to post on it every day. But I really enjoy reading others blogs and commenting.

PS, I absolutely love the title!

Thanks, Buford. I'm beginning to think I won't be posting everyday. It takes a lot of time, and I could easily blow my whole gardening life doing the blog. Need to be disciplined about this and not let it carry me away from all the stuff that is needful.

I'm glad you like the title. I'm betting that sweat is the biggest deterrent to more people gardening in Florida. Figured I'd meet the challenge head on. When I first started gardening, I kept wondering how Martha Stewart did it, looking all dry and pristine. Of course, I know how, but I felt very apologetic for my appearance in the garden. But still, I wish there were fewer prissy women in the world and more who didn't mind getting hot and sweaty. Sounds like a blog topic, doesn't it?

Sherry

Here is a link that might be useful: If only sweat were irrigation...

Sherry, I finally had a chance to look at your new blog. Great job! It looks awesome! I think the idea is a good one, too. I'm going to enjoy following it as you continue. Like you said, don't take so much time blogging that you don't have time to keep up the garden.

I showed my wife pictures of your front yard and told her about your 96 roses. She seemed impressed--big accomplishment--seriously.

Hi Sherry,
I haven't posted in a while but wanted to tell you I loved your blog! And I'm so happy your son came through the transplant with flying colors...what a relief!

I have missed everyone here...my poor roses have taken a beating but the good ones are just fine.

Congrats on the blog!

Deb

Maybe write a takeoff entitled Prissy Woman and sung to the tune of Pretty Woman.

OK, bboy, I'll make sure you're listed in the credits.

debn, hope you're back to stay. We Floridians need more representation here - and everywhere. :))

Jeff, thanks for the applause.

Sherry

Sherry and everyone else. Following this threat has encouraged and inspired me so much, that I also started my blog. I went even public with it. Here is the link:

http://organicgardendreams.com

Thank you all!

Christina

Here is a link that might be useful: Organic Garden Dreams

Christina, how exciting and how cool! I like your start. It is perfect for so many reasons. Beginning at the beginning is always good, and showing the actual bands is great. Personally, I think everyone new to roses needs to be prepared for the size of bands. I can also add that, personally speaking, the first post is the hardest. Keep it up!! I've added your blog to my blog. :))

Sherry

Useful information ..I am very happy to read this article..thanks for giving us this useful information. Fantastic walk-through. I appreciate this post.

Here is a link that might be useful: Lawn Care Services

Sherry, thanks for your nice and encouraging words regarding my new blog. Yesterday I started working on my second post. It is really fun, but as I have suspected it takes a lot of time, too. Maybe I will become faster when I am not such a novice blogger anymore. I really want to add your blog to mine too, since I enjoy reading it so much. Hopefully I technically can figure out how to do that soon...

Regarding the band size, I was still shocked when I saw some of my last bands that arrived, especially the minis. They are sooo... small. My Wedding Cake is the tiniest puniest band I have ever seen, but it is alive and kicking, meaning it is leaving out. Yay! It is a miracle to me that some day beautiful rose bushes will have grown out of these "sticklings".

Christina

Here is a link that might be useful: Organic Garden Dreams

"Sticklings" is a good word, but they work and they do grow. I just discovered a cutting of Le Vesuve that I stuck in a band pot last September has big ol' roots coming out of the bottom. The top looks the same. So I jubilantly potted it up to a 1-gallon pot.

To add your list of favorite blogs, click "Add a Gadget" in the side column. Then you just copy the URL address into the little window that pops up for each blog. (2nd, 3rd, etc just click "Edit".) That feature also tracks the other blogs and lets you know when it has a new post.

It does take a lot of time. I didn't do one yesterday, but I'll try tonight. I'm trying not to be a slave to it, but at the beginning with all the learning and tweaking and mind-changing there is a big time investment - like anything new, I guess.

Sherry

Part of the fun of blogging, for me, is having the opportunity to make real friends out of blogging friends. This often takes the form of email conversations outside the blog, and almost always starts with a personal email reply sent in response to a blog comment ... whether it was my comment on their blog or their comment on my blog. This is not possible if a blogger has configured their profile to hide their email address.

noreply-comment@blogger.com makes me sad. Oftentimes, I begin to craft a reply to a kind comment, only to look up and see this ... and I delete the reply. Many bloggers carry on conversations in the comments, and I do reply to comments when there are questions that I think will help readers who come afterward. I prefer to send a personal reply and thank you in most cases. My email has been visible since Day One, and I can honestly say that I haven't had any increase in spam because of it. The only thing hiding your email is preventing is personal contact.

Okay, I'm off the soapbox now.

To change your setting in Blogger, go to your dashboard, click on Edit Profile, check the box that says "show my email address", click Save Profile, and you're done. The replies should start streaming in any second now. :)

Connie

Here is a link that might be useful: my blog

Thank you, Connie.

Masha

Sherry, I tried to post on your blog but couldn't. It kept asking for a "provider", I don't know what it meant. But what I wanted to know is where you bought your rose from. Madame Chatney(mispelled!) I love those pink globe shaped roses. I would love to have one in my yard as well!

Deb

Deb, I got Mme Abel Chatenay from Roses Unlimited. Check with Pat. My guess about the provider is your email provider. I opened a gmail account last November when DH was in the hospital and I couldn't get my normal email to cooperate on my netbook. Gmail is free and works well with Blogger blogs. I'm not positive that's what provider is. Maybe someone else knows.

Connie, the comments that people are making are also getting sent to my gmail, and as you say, I can reply either in another comment or in email. Are you saying my email address should appear on the blog? I've replied to a few comments via email.

I do look forward to making new friends.

Sherry

Sherry, when I received the email notification that you had commented on my blog, the address line of the sender (you) was this:

sherryocala [noreply-comment@blogger.com]

You get email replies to your comments from me because I already have your email address. I just get it from my contacts folder.

When setting up your Blogger profile, you have to actively check the "show email address" option, otherwise your email is hidden. Many folks do this on purpose, thinking that providing their email will be a wide-open door to Spam City. My email is available on my blog, and here on GW, and I can't say that I have noticed any increase in spam because of it.

It's all in the way that I blog. I skip around reading blogs ... many of which come from sidebar blog lists of other blogs I enjoy ... and I lose track of where I've been. If a blogger uses the comment section for a reply, chances are that I will never see it. (You can subscribe to comment replies on blogger blogs ... I did that once on a very popular blog, and my inbox was inundated with everyone's replies.) I think of personal comment replies as Thank You notes ... it's just what I do, and I feel bad when I can't send a personal reply. Just this morning, I had two lovely comments from folks that I couldn't contact personally. I commented on the blog, and I hope they see it. Other readers got personal replies, with our dear Professor Roush receiving a continuation to a comment conversation that started between the two of us on his blog ... which is FABULOUS, BTW.

I really enjoy reading the blog, Sherry the pics are great and your garden 'history' is an inspiration ! Perhaps you can tell us which of your OGRs are 'keepers', that you don't want to SP or replace.... Le Vesuve sounds like one of them, but please can you name more that are the most satisfying out of the whole garden ? I'm digging up more of my front-yard and suffocating the remaining grass, and am planning on ordering from Rose Petals also Angel Gardens... and would like to select some that will prove best for the long-haul, the ones that bloom the most constant, and get little BS in my no-spray garden.... so any suggestions are much appreciated... thanks, sally

Connie, I made that change to my profile. :))

Sally, I will do that tonight.

Sherry

If you read the subject line of this thread, you know one of my original questions was "why blog". I just had the incredible thrill of "meeting" one of the reasons. Darla from Tallahassee commented on my last post that she found me by stepping over from another blog that she frequents and asked where I had been for the last ten years of her life. Amazing! I'm sure you all can empathize with the excitement I feel in actually being a resource for someone in Florida who is growing roses. And, of course, I love reading what old friends write.

Sherry

Here is a link that might be useful: If only sweat were irrigation...

Sherry, thank you for the instructions of how to get a blog list on my blog! Just got around to do it. So now I have your blog and some others on my blog list. Yay, again one step further!

Just want to let you know that I follow your blog regularly and really love it!

Christina

Here is a link that might be useful: Organic Garden Dreams