I'm on vacation, or as Carol from May Dreams Gardens calls it, at summer camp. In Buffalo for the 3rd annual gathering of garden bloggers I am closing in on vegetative overload. Who knew that was even possible? I'll be explaining about that in future posts but before I arrived here (along with about 70 other bloggers from around the nation and Canada) I kicked off my personal garden tour schedule with my first ever visit to the garden of a blogger I follow. Kim, known to many as Blackswamp Girl, writes about her garden at A Study In Contrast. Kim was so gracious to allow us to visit (I took along my Aunt Elaine who lives quite close to Kim) and I had an absolutely wonderful time seeing in first person a garden I have visited virtually many times. I can't encourage other gardeners enough to get out there and make similar visits. To actually see so many of the plantings and the design that Kim has been working on was amazing fun...we see so many vignettes when we read blogs but to see the garden as a whole is an entirely different thing. Kim was afraid we would see only what needed to be done, but what she has going on was so impressive she shouldn't have even been concerned.  I had to hold back and not photograph things I knew she would want to talk about herself but I saw a thing or two first, before she wrote about them...I'm just saying!
I would love to be able to return the favor...so Kim, you have an open invitation to my garden...just name the date!