Dear Readers, Thank you!

Palm trees in Pasadena

I've just returned from the Garden Writers Association's annual symposium in Pasadena, California, which is about as much fun as a garden writer can have, outside of being covered in one's own garden dirt after a day of gardening.

Just imagine if you were with all kinds of other people from all over who shared your passion for gardening, nature, gardens, flowers, plants, etc. and also shared your love of writing, speaking, and telling others about gardening, and then you got to go on tours of gardens with these people and attend seminars given by some of them.

Just imagine after all that fun if you got to go to a lovely banquet with all of these people where you received certificates for two GWA Silver Awards and then heard your name called as the recipient of the GWA 2015 Gold Award for Best Electronic Writing.

2015 Gold Award Best Electronic Writing

Just imagine!

That's pretty much what this year's GWA symposium was like for me.

And just imagine if I were to write a thank you letter to each of you, it would go something like this...

Dear fellow gardener and reader,

Thank for all the support and encouragement you've given me through the many years I've been posting on this blog. Without your encouragement, I wouldn't have continued blogging, wouldn't have branched out into other writing, and would never have thought to join the Garden Writers Associations.

Thank you, from the bottom of the compost bin to the tops of the trees in my garden. You have always been there for me, commenting on my blog posts, encouraging me to continue.

I'm thrilled to tell you that I've just returned from the Garden Writers Association's annual symposium with two silver awards for blog writing and an e-newsletter article.

For the GWA Silver Award for e-newsletter articles, I submitted an e-newsletter article I wrote for Indiana Gardening, Late Fall Blooms for the Midwest Garden.

For the GWA Silver Award for blog writing, I submitted three blog posts:

Oh give me a lawn...

Compost by the sea

Ten things your garden wants you to do this fall

And at the banquet, I learned I won the GWA 2015 Gold Award for Electronic Writing.

I've enclosed a picture of the award out in my garden. I thought that was a good setting for it because it is the garden that inspires me and gives me the ideas to write about gardening in general.

And then, of course, it is you, dear reader and fellow gardener, who have always encouraged and supported me with your comments and emails which have continued for more years than I ever imagined when I first started blogging and writing about gardening.

I am forever grateful.

Thank you.

With a shared love of gardening,
Carol

(P. S. At the risk of stirring up trouble with the garden fairies, I am not giving them part of this award as I did not submit any of their posts.  Hopefully, they will understand.)