After spending the past few months working like mad to improve our Chester gardens, it seemed time to stop the planting, pruning and weeding and just enjoy the results of our labours. Of course, it’s always better to be in the company of fellow gardeners so Sheila and Ken kindly hosted a casual get-together for members of Chester Garden Club and their significant others. The attractive garden with its shady deck made for a relaxed setting and good conversation on a hot summer’s day.
After six years of serving as a “founding blogger” of the Chester Garden Club, I’m amazed to realize how far we’ve come since the time when a few of us attended a short course to investigate the possibility of starting a garden club blog. Once the decision was made, the club began cautiously, by piggy-backing on another domain’s site for the first few years,
Cautious steps
while we slowly learned blogging terminology and techniques. Eventually, when we reached the stage at which we felt confident to operate a little more independently, with a more flexible platform, we signed on with WordPress in the fall of 2011.
In keeping with the blog’s mission, we strove to create a visual and written record of the club’s activities: from maintaining the garden areas in two small parks in the village of Chester, to holding a spring gardener’s sale and a summer Flower Show and Tea, to presenting interesting speakers at our monthly meetings. The blog’s archives contain a large selection of images from these various activities and events, as seen in the examples below.
Taking good care of the club’s own Cove GardenSelecting the perfect plant at the Gardener’s SaleSetting up the Annual Flower Show and TeaDecorating the bandstand for Christmas
The second aim of the blog’s mission was to showcase the attractions of Chester village and surrounding rural areas throughout the seasons.
Cheerful bulbs are a welcome sight in SpringApple blossoms reign in Nova ScotiaSummer offers more variety in garden plantingsEven in Chester we welcome a shady nookLilies make a showy additionRoses (Agnes) climb a fence
Azaleas, roses, sweet peas, asiatic lilies, daylilies, poppies, marigolds, rhododendrons, sedums and a whole variety of perennials and annuals delight us until the fall. Crisp autumn days with the showy maples and birches eventually give way to winter’s chill but even that season brings its own beauty.
Kaleidoscope of autumn colourSnow-laden branches in winter
Although the blog was set up to enhance communications with members of the club, I benefited personally from the experience as I discovered many interesting sites maintained by other bloggers, who post on a huge variety of subjects. Occasionally we even entered into correspondence with some and those internet exchanges somehow brought our “pen pals” a little closer.
It’s been a fun experience, and I hope to continue following these other bloggers and to post the occasional item on the Chester Garden Club blog, but now it’s time to pass the keypad over to my successor, Jocelyn (aka Double Daisy). She has been a quick study during the past year as we worked together to create about 40 posts, showcasing the work of the club and the countryside around Chester. She is enthusiastic and enterprising, and I know the blog will be in good hands when she takes over as Blog Coordinator later this month.
