Monday, May 28, 2018

Souvenir book commemorates 10th anniversary of the Fling

Every blogger who attended Austin Garden Bloggers Fling this year received a 10th anniversary commemorative booklet. Conceived by Diana Kirby as a scrapbook-style souvenir book packed with photos and an evocative summary about each year's Fling, it showcases the bloggers and the gardens we've seen during 11 years of Flinging, from Austin in 2008 to the Capital Region in 2017. We hope you delight as much in the memories as we do!
For those who weren't able to attend this year, we're pleased to be able to share the souvenir booklet online as a pdf, which you're welcome to download for your own keepsake.

Here is the booklet's introduction, commemorating a decade of fun at Garden Bloggers Fling:

Garden Bloggers Fling has been bringing bloggers together since 2008, attracting garden lovers from across North America and Europe. But how is it that we've come to "Fling," meeting up for 3-1/2 days of garden touring, socializing, and networking in a new city every year for 10 years?

It began in April 2008 in Austin, where local bloggers met regularly to get to know each other beyond the anonymity of the internet. One of the bloggers, Pam Penick of Digging, got the crazy idea to invite all garden bloggers to Austin for a "Spring Fling" - a day to visit gardens, socialize, and talk about blogging. She and 3 other Austin bloggers began planning, and the Fling was born.

A sample page from the souvenir booklet
But would anybody come? Flying to a city where you knew someone only through their blog required a leap of faith. Remarkably, people leaped! That first Fling had 37 garden bloggers from 12 U.S. states. It was a hit!

Since then, the Fling has blossomed into a 3-1/2-day annual event that brings 75-100 bloggers together in a different city each year to enjoy private and public gardens, nursery shopping, an opening reception and banquet dinner, swag bags and raffle prizes given by generous sponsors, and, most importantly, the opportunity to meet fellow garden lovers who share that passion through blogging. Although we may hail from vastly different growing zones and have diverse gardening interests, the Fling brings us together.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of Garden Bloggers Fling, and so it seems fitting to return to Austin, where it all began, to "Fling" once again. This anniversary souvenir booklet celebrates our one-of-a-kind event and the many fond memories and lasting friendships made across 10 years of the Fling.

Sunday, May 27, 2018

2018 Sponsor Directory is now online

We can't thank our 2018 sponsors enough for their support of Austin Fling! For their financial support and in-kind donations, sponsors received, in addition to other benefits, a listing and/or ad space in our sponsor directory. Each blogger who attended Austin Fling received a printed copy.

And now the 2018 Sponsor Directory is online and viewable as a pdf. You'll find the link in our sidebar, and you can also click on it right here. Please enjoy perusing the gardener-friendly companies whose support helped us to put on our fun-filled event and keep costs low. If you like what you find, we hope you'll support them in return with likes, links, and shout-outs on your blog and other social media. 

Correction: We regret that Proven Winners' ad was inadvertently left out of the directory. We apologize for this oversight. Please know that we greatly appreciate their support as well!

Tuesday, May 8, 2018

Read all about Austin Fling 2018: Our blog posts

We love reading your posts about Austin Fling, and so do other bloggers, our tour's garden owners and sponsors, and the gardening public. To help us find your posts as you publish over the weeks and months ahead, please tag them on Facebook and Instagram with our hashtag #gbfling2018. Also, please share your blog links on our official Facebook page.

Here are the blog posts about Austin Fling, organized by date (May 3-6) and location (or "general," if covering multiple locations), that we've collected for your reading pleasure.




Pre-Fling and May 3 - Day 1



Callicarpa: Austin Public Library and Lady Bird Lake Hike and Bike Trail

Rock Rose: A FLINGing good time

It's a Dry Heat: Thursday: Pre-Garden Bloggers Fling ’18

Alyse Lansing Garden Design: Austin Garden Tours: begin

Danger Garden: Who did it first?

Queen of the Dirt: Austin pre-Fling road trips… Antique Rose Emporium

Queen of the Dirt: Austin pre-Fling road trips…Friendly Natives Nursery

Queen of the Dirt: Austin pre-Fling road trips… heading west

Rock-Oak-Deer: Garden Blogger's Fling 2018: Getting There

Rock-Oak-Deer: Garden Blogger's Fling Austin 2018: Still Getting There

Danger Garden: 2018 Garden Bloggers Fling — the opening bash at the downtown Austin Library

Callicarpa: A Warm Welcome and a Literary Scoundrel: Pre-Fling Austin




May 4 - Day 2

Through the Greenhouse Glass: Austin Garden Tours, Day One!

Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center

The Patient Gardener: Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Centre 


Tales from Awkward Hill: Wildflowers in Texas (believe it or not)

The Paintbox Garden: Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center

Chickadee Gardens: Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center: Garden Blogger's Fling, Austin

The Rainy Day Garden: Stormy Skies at The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center

Queen of the Dirt: Howdy from Austin…Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center

Dallas Garden Buzz: Garden Bloggers Fling Day 1 and Stop 1

Succulents and More: Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, Austin, TX (#gbfling2018)

Danger Garden: Wildflowers and showers, during the Austin GB Fling

Alyse Lansing Garden Inspiration Blog: Austin: Wildflower Center, part 1: wild and wooly

Commonweeder: Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center

Alyse Lansing Garden Inspiration Blog: Austin: Wildflower Center, part 2 - in sun


Diana Kirby Garden

Garden With Diana: Garden of Diana Kirby 

Rock-Oak-Deer: Rain Check at Diana's Garden

Danger Garden: Diana's Garden, a stop on the Austin Garden Bloggers Fling


The Natural Gardener

Chickadee Gardens: The Natural Gardener Nursery: Garden Blogger's Fling, Austin

Queen of the Dirt: Howdy from Austin…The Natural Gardener

Danger Garden: The Natural Gardener, a stop on the Austin Fling


Jenny Stocker Garden

Garden with Diana: Garden of Jenny Stocker

The Patient Gardener: A garden of inspiration

Rock Rose: Friday at the Fling

Plant + Shoot: SHOOT: how to use leading lines for better garden photos

A Growing Obsession: friday clippings 5/18/18

Ramblings from a Desert Garden: An English Garden with Texas Flair

Late to the Garden Party: Rock Rose in the Rain (Garden Bloggers' Fling)

Commonweeder: A Texas Garden with Rooms, Blooms – and Art

The Paintbox Garden: A Texas Garden with English Roots

Danger Garden: Visiting Jennifer's garden...during the Austin Fling

Succulents and More: England meets Texas: Jenny Stocker's walled garden (#gbfling2018)

Chickadee Gardens: Garden Blogger's Fling, Austin: A British Transplant in Texas

Toronto Gardens: England Meets Texas in the Rock Rose Garden


Mirador Garden

A Growing Obsession: multifaceted Mirador house, Austin TX

Succulents and More: Mirador Garden: steel and succulents in Austin, TX (#gbfling2018)

The Paintbox Garden: Mirador – Steel, Limestone & Design Panache in Austin

Chickadee Gardens: Garden Blogger's Fling, Austin: Mirador Garden

Danger Garden: The Mirador Garden, a stop on the Austin GB Fling

Sharing Nature's Garden: Contemporary, xeric garden showcased at Garden Bloggers Fling


May 5 - Day 3


Through the Greenhouse Glass: Austin Garden Tours, Day Two!


Pam Penick Garden

Danger Garden: The 2018 Austin GB Fling; Pam Penick's garden

My Northern Garden: Garden Your Garage

Garden with Diana: Garden of Pam Penick

Ramblings from a Desert Garden: A Shady, Colorful Garden Personifies The Uniqueness of Austin

Late to the Garden Party: Digging into Pam Penick's Garden (Garden Bloggers' Fling)

GardenBook: C'mon Lets Go Over to Pams' !! Garden Bloggers Fling 2018-Austin

The Paintbox Garden: Texas Rhapsody in Blue

Queen of the Dirt: Howdy from Austin…digging under the Death Star

Chickadee Gardens: Garden Blogger's Fling, Austin: The Garden of Pam Penick

Succulents and More: Visiting the garden of Austin, TX writer and blogger Pam Penick


Colleen Jamison Garden

Sign of the Times: Friday Bench: Along the Median Strip

The Paintbox Garden: Birds, Bling and Beguiling Brown

Chickadee Gardens: Garden Blogger's Fling, Austin: Jamison Garden

Danger Garden: The garden of Colleen Jamison, a stop on the 2018 Garden Bloggers Fling


B. Jane Garden

Ramblings from a Desert Garden: Vacation at Home: A Contemporary, Low-Maintenance Garden

The Paintbox Garden: Chic and Sleek in Austin

Danger Garden: B. Jane, a garden from the 2018 Garden Bloggers Fling

Chickadee Gardens: Garden Blogger's Fling, Austin: B. Jane Garden

B. Jane Gardens: Garden Bloggers Fling 2018

Toronto Gardens: Snow-Day Escape to a Contemporary Oasis in Austin, TX

Sharing Nature's Garden: Contemporary landscape creates comfort at Garden Bloggers Fling garden

Succulents and More: B. Jane Garden: small but sophisticated backyard resort


Donna and Mike Fowler Garden

Toronto Gardens: Recycled Glass Is a Garden Shrine to Sunshine

Chickadee Gardens: Garden Blogger's Fling, Austin: Donna Fowler

Danger Garden: The garden of Donna Fowler, from the 2018 GB Fling...


Tanglewild Gardens

Succulents and More: Tanglewild Gardens: Morocco meets Thailand in Texas

Late to the Garden Party: Tanglewild Gardens (2018 Garden Bloggers' Fling)

Danger Garden: Tanglewild, a stop on the Garden Bloggers Fling

Chickadee Gardens: An Austin Garden: Tanglewild


May 6 - Day 4


Gardening Turned Up to Eleven: Wednesday Vignettes - From the 2018 Austin Fling

Through the Greenhouse Glass: Austin Garden Tours - Day Three!

It's a Dry Heat: Sunday: Garden Bloggers Fling ’18


Lucinda Hutson Garden

Garden with Diana: Garden of Lucinda Hutson

Natural Gardening: A wonderful Fling

Red Dirt Ramblings: Lucinda Hutson's Garden

Cottage in the Court: Lucinda’s Garden – Love On Earth

Late to the Garden Party: Immersion in Lucinda Hutson's Joyous Spirit (Garden Bloggers' Fling)

Frau Zinnie: Whimsical elements complement author's paradise

Rock Rose: Lucinda's Garden

Commonweeder: Life is a Fiesta with Lucinda Hutson in Austin, Texas

The Paintbox Garden: La Casita Moradita de Tequila

Queen of the Dirt: Howdy from Austin…party at Lucinda’s

Danger Garden: Lucinda Hutson (¡VIVA TEQUILA!), a stop on the 2018 Garden Bloggers Fling

Art of Gardening: Awesome in Austin

Rock-Oak-Deer: A Daily Fiesta at La Casita Moradita

Succulents and More: A love letter to color, life, and tequila: the Austin, TX garden of Lucinda Hutson

Chickadee Gardens: Garden Blogger's Fling, Austin: Lucinda Hutson

Sharing Nature's Garden: Colorful cottage garden explodes with color and plants


Margie McClurg Garden

Danger Garden: The Margie McClurg garden, a stop on the 2018 Garden Bloggers Fling

Chickadee Gardens: An Austin Garden: Margie McClurg


Ruthie Burrus Garden

Succulents and More: Ruthie Burrus garden: Texas Hill Country hideaway with spectacular views

My Northern Garden: Gardening for Pollinators in a Big Way

Queen of the Dirt: Howdy from Austin…almost above the clouds

Late to the Garden Party: The View from Ruthie Burrus's Garden (2018 Garden Bloggers' Fling)

The Paintbox Garden: A Garden for Wildlife in Texas

Danger Garden: The Ruthie Burrus Garden, a stop on the 2018 Garden Bloggers Fling

Chickadee Gardens: An Elegant and Wild Austin Garden: Ruthie Burrus

Callicarpa: On a Clear Day: The Hilltop Garden of Ruthie Burrus



Zilker Botanical Garden & David Salman Talk

Red Dirt Ramblings: Why Do Gardens Matter?

Danger Garden: Zilker Botanical Garden, a stop on the 2018 Garden Bloggers Fling


Tait Moring Garden

Danger Garden:  The garden of Tait Moring, a stop on the 2018 Garden Bloggers Fling


Kirk Walden Garden

Succulents and More: Kirk Walden's garden: It's all about the view



General/Multiple Days






Piece of Eden: Flung!







Just a Girl with a Hammer: Bugs, booze, and brisket


Veg Plotting: Postcard from Texas




Succulents and More: Austin, TX gardens from M to Z






Dig, Grow, Compost, Blog: What Is It About Austin Gardens?

Piece of Eden: Fling 2018: People in Garden Pictures

The Patient Gardener: Austin – Tchotchke

Gardening in a Drought: Plant and Repeat

Ramblings from a Desert Garden: Garden Inspiration: Southwest Style


Sharing Nature's Garden: Bloggers celebrate 10th Anniversary of Garden Bloggers Fling

Southwest Gardening: Add Color, Save Water With Garden Art

Gardening Turned Up to Eleven: Austin Garden Bloggers Fling - Everything Overview

Gardening Turned Up to Eleven: What I learned: The Power of Consistent Mulch! 

Gardening Turned Up to Eleven: What I Learned - Planting Without Beds

Gardening Turned Up to Eleven: What I learned: Excellent Color Echos & Palettes

Gardening Turned Up to Eleven: What I Learned: Garden Art Done Austin-Style

Gardening Turned Up to Eleven: What I learned - Water in the Garden

Amateur Bot-Ann-Ist: May I continue? (May, 2018)

Sharing Nature's Garden: Tour of Austin Garden Bloggers Fling’s beautiful gardens

Fashion Plants: Austin Plants

Fashion Plants: Austin Light

Fashion Plants: Austin Water

Fashion Plants: Austin Pots

PlantPostings: Austin's Awesome Container Plantings



Sponsor Giveaways and Visits









 
 



 






Monday, May 7, 2018

Thank You






















From the Garden Bloggers Fling Austin team - we thank you for coming to Austin to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Fling.  We loved showing you around Austin and our gardens, and we can't wait to see all your posts.

Our group photo includes more bloggers than ever before at 92 participants, and we are delighted that so many of you joined us for this event.

We also thank our many generous sponsors who made this great event possible.  

From the bottom of our hearts, thank you.

Diana Kirby
Pam Penick
Laura Wills
Sheryl Williams
Jennifer Brown