Garden Bloggers, please join us at the Minneapolis Garden Bloggers' Fling

I probably don't have to tell you that Garden Bloggers' Fling is an annual event for garden bloggers that is held in different cities around the US or that we've been garden-touring and socializing every year since 2008 when 30+ garden bloggers got together in Austin, TX!

Austin 2008~So many dear people in this photo!

Since that first Garden Blogger Fling get together, we've been to Chicago, Buffalo, Seattle, Asheville, San Francisco, Portland, Toronto and this July 15, 16, 17, 2016, we'll be in Minneapolis, MN. I hope you can join us. 

A  garden we passed while exploring Minneapolis!

If you've never attended there's SO much to look forward to~Meeting gardeners from all over the US, Canada and Europe; eating good local foods, visiting the host city and of course there are the gardens!

They're always spectacular, often unique and incredibly inspiring. Each and every one of them has a certain je ne sais quoi!

Top l to r: Toronto Botanical Garden, Westwind Farm Studio, Portland, Seattle, Bottom l to r: Asheville, Buffalo, Chicago,

 I think you are going to be delighted with Minneapolis.

Skyscrapers and Mill City Museum

I fell for it in a big way when we were there in September a few years ago. We discovered a city with cool museums, wonderful restaurants, great sightseeing, delightful city walks, a wonderful native plant sanctuary and a fantastic bog.

Yes, I said native plant sanctuary and a bog! How lucky could a native plant gardener get! The Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden and Bird Sanctuary is a 15-acre native plant reserve. It is the oldest public wildflower garden in the United States. It was delightfully dressed in fall wildflowers and grasses.

Not too far from the sanctuary is Theodore Wirth Park where you'll find The Quaking Bog. The floating paths are the perfect place to observe Dragonflies/Damselflies, frogs and songbirds.

The floating path in the Quaking Bog (Theodore Wirth Park)

 Amy Andrychowicz of Get Busy Gardening and committee members Kathleen Hennessy of :29 Minute Gardener and Mary Schier of My Northern Garden are hard at work putting together a Fling we'll all enjoy!

Newbies, here's what you can look forward to~A happy hour meet and greet on Thursday evening, then  three days of private and public gardens, nursery visits, good food and great conversations! You'll leave Minneapolis happy, full of ideas and inspiration and with more than a few new friends.

You don't have to take just my word for it, to view the itinerary, click here and/or to register, click here.  

The above photo is borrowed from the official Fling site~The caption on the photo reads:

"Lots of surprises at Woutrina De Raad's Garden"

I sure hope I'll see you there.

xoxogail

Gail Eichelberger is a gardener and therapist in Middle Tennessee. She loves wildflowers and native plants and thoroughly enjoys writing about the ones she grows at Clay and Limestone. She reminds all that the words and images are the property of the author and cannot be used without written permission.