Is there still a place for garden blogs?

 I'm back, did you miss me? Probably not, if you follow along on Facebook, on Twitter, on Instagram, on Pinterest...or on the somewhat stagnating Bloominganswers. (You'll notice I ignore Google Plus, because that's what I do with it: ignore it).

It's fascinating to see how many types of social media have erupted since I began writing bloomingwriter so many years ago. They've proliferated pretty much like enthusiastic perennials. You know how we say about perennials, 'First year sleep, second year creep, third year leap"? That seems to be how social media options roll, too. Some sort of stumble by the wayside, like StumbleUpon, which was the second thing I joined (and which technically is a discovery engine as opposed to a social media thing), but which I never even look at now.

When I'm not out in the gardening or writing about gardening or travelling around for work, I pretty much live at my computer, and online. Oh, I do have other passions; I spend plenty of time peering through my camera lenses at flowers and pollinators; for the month of September and early October, I was buried in the Nova Scotia provincial election, helping our local Liberal candidate to get elected. These days, in my spare time in the evening I watch Netflix and knit comfort throws to raise funds for the Valley Animal Shelter, our local no-kill cat shelter. I read prodigiously, both online and actual real books (and I'm waiting excitedly to get my hands on Kylee and Jenny's new book on Indoor Plant Decor!

 Do I spend much time reading blog posts? Not like I used to, when I read them in the evenings pretty faithfully. Why? Because often I'm following my friends via one or some or all of the social media options listed above. And probably, many of them do the same with me. I do have my favourite haunts that I read regularly because they provide excellent gardening information that I can trust, write very well, and are generally entertaining.

 It's been two months since I've written a post here, and yet again I contemplated whether or not to continue on with this blog. To be honest, it's easier to have conversations in other types of social media although they are often quicker conversations; sometimes, they're only a retweet or a 'like' or a 'heart' but it lets others know: "I saw your photo or your post, and I like it! I'm thinking about you even though I'm on deadline or juggling multiple Facebook Pages or trying to get my bulbs planted before freeze up."

It's been the same thing contemplating the future of Bloominganswers. These sites take a lot of work to make them truly interactive, and we are all busy people. (I know many of you remember the halcyon days of Blotanical, and what a lot of fun it was. That site seems to be broken and unusable at present, although apparently a new version is being beta-tested.) As we know, the Internet and social media are ever changing, kind of like our gardens, and what we loved five years ago is different from what we love now--and who KNOWS where we will be in five years time with all this? I jokingly say I wish SIRI (the artificial intelligence in my iPhone and iPad) could read my mind, so she could take dictation while I'm swimming laps in the pool. Who knows but that could be coming. :-)

I think I'll take a page from other bloggers, and simply commit to posting once or twice a month, regularly, instead of erratically. We're heading into the cold months here in North America, where most of our gardening becomes enjoying indoor plants and planning next year's garden adventures. Plus, I'm getting the second of my new knees very soon, so next year I'll be REALLY ready to work on this new garden. As for bloominganswers, I'll keep it live for now, but with the caveat of use-it-or-lose-it. I don't have to be there all the time, there are plenty of talented gardeners who lead discussions nicely. We'll see what the next few months bring.

So let's keep in touch, shall we?