An Unexpected Surprise

I am still on a bit of a high from my recent trip to the Seattle Fling for garden bloggers. So many ‘firsts’ for me on this wonderful adventure I don’t know where to begin. If you have not heard of the Fling, let me fill you in a bit.

Once a year a few brave and exceptionally well organized garden bloggers volunteer their time to make it possible for other garden bloggers from across the country and abroad to descend on their fair city for several days of garden tours, good meals and general merriment. Beyond a doubt our hosts for this year's Fling; Marty Wingate, Mary Ann Newcomer, Lorene Edwards Forkner and Debra Prinzing are passionate about gardens and their fellow garden writers. With books, blogs and articles to write of their own as well as gardens to tend and families to care for, our tireless hosts weaved together a garden tour agenda that had the attendees delighting in beautiful gardens and wonderful company. How they managed to do all of this is a mystery to me but I am eternally grateful that they did.

For four days we were whisked away to private and public gardens. The weather was perfect (I am sure the ladies had something to do with that as well!), and we were treated to breathtaking views of Mount Rainier, the water and the city that rivaled the gardens themselves.

This was my first trip to Seattle, my first time meeting the authors of garden blogs I follow, my first ferry boat ride, my first view of Mount Rainer during an early morning run (what a way to start the day), and my first trip the famous Pike Place Market. What I didn’t consider when I set out on this garden trek was a very unique first. This is the first garden trip I have taken with a group of garden enthusiasts and as a result, the first garden trip that when I returned home I had several new friends to share photos and memories with. Long after our spouses and significant others tire of our Seattle Fling stories, our fellow travelers will be there, reminiscing and savoring our shared garden trek to Seattle.

Jenny Koester, AKA The Landless Gardener, is the Garden Blog Editor for Horticulture magazine and the author of The Garden LifeandA Year in the Park.