Two-year anniversary: INWIG best of 2011

According to Blogger I made my first blog post on March 5, 2010 which means today is my two-year anniversary! Two years of daily posts? Yep. Since I think about gardening every day, why not post about it every day too? One of the main reasons for creating this blog was so I'd document everything I did in the garden, and I have to admit I've done a pretty good job of that. Did I list every detail of every task I did? No, certainly not. I missed lots of stuff, including some important details such as what exact varieties of veggies I planted, spacings, fertilization schedules, etc. but I also shared a lot of things that I would normally have just observed and enjoyed for myself, and have hopefully given some entertainment and knowledge to my readers.

Today I'm going to take a look back over the past year and list my favorite posts in chronological order. If you haven't seen them before please take a look. If you have seen them already, then take another look -- it's still fun! I did this type of post on my one-year anniversary too, and I really like the way it turned out. Expect it every year.

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This is an "index" of my favorite posts from the last year (March 2011 - February 2012). Also, a great page to start on -- if you want to send somebody a link to show them what this site is all about, this is a great one to send. Click the titles/dates to get to the full posts. Even if you don't click any of the links to see the posts, this page is pretty cool by itself I think. Enjoy.



Banana: how much is too much?  12 March 2011

A view of lots and lots of banana peels in my compost pile.







Spring part 1, 21 March 2011

Some nice photos of spring in my garden.








Update on everything, 30 March 2011

This was an update on a few of my plants, but most importantly it's a great look at my first attempt at growing cactus from seed.






Fireglow? 10 April 2011

A pretty look at my main Japanese maple, labeled as 'Fireglow', but I'm dubious of that ID.







Bamboo shoots pretty, 15 April 2011

Bamboo shooting season is a very exciting time, and the shoots can be quite beautiful.







Chuck!  21 April 2012

A neighborhood woodchuck. Thankfully he rarely ventured into my yard last year.







Table for four? Finch chicks, 1 May 2011

This finch nest on my front porch is a permanent feature in my yard now I think.







A bee proves me wrong, 8 May 2011

I earlier posted that the blooms of one of my shrubs don't attract pollinators. I was very wrong, as photos of many different flying insects shows.






Coir: giving it a try, 12 May 2011

This is the first time I tried using coir (coco fiber) instead of peat moss.







The cicada emergence continues, 22 May 2011

The 13-year cicadas emerged in the St. Louis area this year, and there were a lot of them!







Dried, forgotten, wonderful, 27 May 2011

A look as some beautiful dried seed heads I found in my garage.







Cicada damage, 8 June 2011

Cicadas make a lot of noise and don't really hurt plants -- until they start laying eggs. Some great photos of the damage and the act of laying.






You stay right here! 23 June 2011

I find a fawn hiding in my yard.








Oh these beautiful bugs! 30 June 2011

I love taking photos of insects, and these are some of the nicest of the year to date.







Passion! 9 July 2011

The passion flower vines start blooming. Amazing blooms for something that's cold-hardy in St. Louis.







Fennel flower ambush, 18 July 2011

I identified a bug that I've not noticed before: an ambush bug







Creating a copper patina fast! 24 July 2011

I show you a trick I learned for giving copper a wonderful aged look in just a few minutes.







Learning to see, 26 July 2011

Sometimes you just have to look at things in a different way. Some of my favorite photos of the year.







hummingbirds do not like to share, 5 August 2011

Some up-close photos and videos of hummingbirds chasing each other away from a feeder.








Magical, Black, Butterfly, 11 August 2011

Some dreamy photos of a spicebush swallowtail butterfly. I like these (both the photos and the insects).







Malabar! 26 August 2011

A look at malabar spinach, a vine I grew for the first time this year.







Sharing is best, 29 August 2011

Tobacco hornworm caterpillars are eating my tomato plants, but I don't mind.







Ambushed again! 1 September 2011

I find a few more species of ambush bugs in my yard, and catch one in action.







My favorite plant markers, 26 September 2011

An inexpensive way to make durable plant tags: vinyl blinds.







Early fall is big spider time!  30 September 2011

If you like photos of spiders, this is worth a look. If you don't then keep scrolling.







Annual visit to Needmore Bamboo, 6 October 2011

I seem to go drive to Indiana for some bamboo at least once a year. This is the first time I took "beauty shots" there.






Missouri Botanical Garden, part 5, 17 October 2011

I spent a few autumn hours at this treasure of a botanical garden, and posted about it in five parts. (This post contains links to all of the other parts.)






One-word Wednesday: Katydid, 26 October 2011

I was in the right place at the right time and took some of my favorite photos of the year.







One-word Wednesday: seed, 2 November 2011

A collection of nice end-of-season seed pod photos.








Sunrise, 16 November 2011

I caught a particularly nice sunrise this morning.








Final pond update, 29 November 2011

I spent most of the month digging a pond, and this post was the last of several spread out over the month.







Photo Friday, 9 December 2011

Some photos of my frozen pond -- the first time I ever got to write that phrase.







Plant table pretty, 16 December 2011

Just glamour shots of some of the plants that I'm overwintering indoors under lights.







When all through the house, 21 December 2011

Mice in the garage, and how I inadvertently feed some of them to Kestrels.







My plants labeled, part 4, 19 January 2012

I labeled several photos in these four posts, as a first step in cataloging everything I grow.







Hello blanket flower! 20 January 2012

A potted annual Gaillardia that I brought in for the winter bloomed indoors.







Missouri Botanical Garden 2012 Orchid Show, 23 February 2012

I visited the garden while the orchid show was going on and saw some beautiful blooms.







Bench, 29 February 2012

A beautiful bargain bench I bought at a shop near the botanical garden.








So that's my selection of the "best" posts from the 2nd year of It's not work, it's gardening! I'm certain that I've missed some great posts -- it's so difficult to pick just two or three from each month.

Please browse the site and find some others -- I know you'll enjoy yourself. Thanks for reading!

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