Garden2Blog: P. Allen Smith's Invited Me Over, No Foolin'

Well, me and about 20 other garden bloggers.

Now I really will have to learn what to call him. Is it P. or Allen or P. Allen or Sir or just Al? Perhaps I should go with Mr. Smith.

I'm so lucky to have been included in this talented group of garden bloggers to join P. Allen Smith at his breathtaking Garden Home Retreat at Moss Mountain in Arkansas for Garden2Blog on April 26-27. I appreciate him making room for a "northerner" and a relatively new blogger like me at such an illustrious event.

Garden blogging has opened up so many new avenues for me in my mission to inform and inspire. And this is just one more of those fortunate occasions for which I am grateful.

According to Mr. Smith, "I'm looking forward to welcoming everyone to the Garden Home Retreat and getting to know individuals in the online gardening community. It's such a creative and knowledgeable group coming to visit. I can't wait to see what shakes out of our time together."

I'll probably be the one shaking at the chance to meet one of my horticultural heroes after reading and re-reading his books, in addition to hearing him speak several times. In fact I visited the retreat with a Master Gardener group when it was still under construction. Can't wait to see the finished (although a garden is never finished) results.

I have long been a fan of his soft-spoken way of communicating time-tested design principles along with the simple joy of creating a Garden Home. You can bet I'll be taking notes.

Add to this, I get to put faces to names of fellow garden bloggers, including a couple of real live wires in the world of garden writing. Allen promises that, "Our Garden Home partners have got some great workshops cooked up for everyone, and I think we're going to have a lot of fun. I don't want to give away too much, but let's say there's nothing wrong with a little competition among friends!" Hmmm, I wonder just what that means? I'm sure it will be a hoot.

"Garden2Blog" is going to be a fantastic opportunity for us to come together and not just talk about trends and ideas, but also establish an ongoing dialogue of information-sharing within our industry."

I'll be sharing all this with you as it happens. Stay tuned!

Meanwhile check out the current list of attendees:

Along with me, Rhonda Fleming Hayes at The Garden Buzz

Adriana Martinez Anarchy in the Garden

Andrew Key Garden Smackdown

Annie Haven Manure Tea

Ben Ford The Thrifty Landscaper

Beth Phelps U of A ex

Brenda Haas BG Garden

Dee Nash Red Dirt Ramblings

Fern Richardson Life on the Balcony

Helen Yoest Gardening With Confidence™