You know,,, waaaaaay back when, I used to work for Plant Deligths on open house weekends and I was astonished at the number of Garden Web lurkers that would approach me with questions and comments. It all happened again when I got so involved with the state fair's flower and garden show. It kinda drove me crazy with wondering why they could get up the nerve to approach me in public but couldn't take the step to post anything online.

My fear is that the lack of robust conversations on this and other forums is that more folks have moved on to other social network sites and that they have abandoned GW.

I only discovered GW a few years ago, and it took me quite a while to post. And, I always seem to be out of town when we have our local swaps, so having been to only three so far, I don't know many people other than names on the web. However, I appreciate sharing about plants. And the database is helpful. I don't think you can find out that kind of information on Facebook...or can you? I joined FB but see only "silly" things, such as virtual farms, etc. Of course, different strokes, etc. It does help to know who all is still alive, and at my age, I guess that is a plus!

I only get to lurk occasionally. Things have been so busy in my life, 5 weeks and counting until graduation. The weeds in my yard make fun of me every time I pass them on my way to the mailbox and the birds appreciate the grass seed I threw out for them last weekend. I can't wait until life slows down and I can garden and post more. It will slow down, won't it???

I can understand dirtrx's 'deadline'. I have a May 5th one when son and his family move to USA. His wife finally got her entrance visa and they (including our twin grandgirls we've never met) will be living with us for several months.
Not just a matter of reorganizing and childproofing keep me from the gardens but DH has carpenters in here every day building 'built-in' cabinetry storage "for me". Course the first project was building a tool storage cabinet I can access from inside the porch. Great, except the workers are tromping through my main garden and compacting the soil and making me wait to plant.

I guess this is the slow time for me..probably the last slow time I'll see for years. I should be out pulling weeds instead of posting.

I haven't lurked at all until today. I must have been on your list of years ago though Dottie. I remember your screen name and several others as I am browsing here today.
When I first moved to NC 9 years ago my yard was almost bare and I found I had a gardening addiction until I had it full and blooming.
Some stressful times caused me to loose the desire to garden, but now things have changed and I am ready to plant, prune and make pretty! I'm now divorced and in a new house with yet another bare garden bed. So I am back looking for advice. I'll post all that on another section.
It's good to be back and see people that I remember.
Hi to you all.

Yup, clare..you sure are on my list. Welcome back to the land of dirty hands!
I'm having good luck with peonies now. Only wish they bloomed longer but they are quite the sight when in bloom.

It has been a long time since I have done much with gardenweb. I originally came here hoping to connect with serious gardeners in SC, specifically Sumter and Columbia area but came away empty handed. So I just do my own thing and keep on keepin on.

However..... I came back today because it seems that sometimes gardenweb is the only place I can find answers to fairly specific questions. This is a fantastic resource (despite all of the pop-ups).

I envy the connections that you NC'ers seem to have with each other. I used to follow your get togethers and enjoyed looking at the pictures of people that I enjoyed chatting with on the forum.

Also, time has been a factor, between the garden, job, and continuing education, there hasn't been time for much else. But I think things are slowing down a little now and I can come back and enjoy a chat on the forums now and then. It is good to know you are all still here.

I got burned out on the rose forums and pretty much left GW for Facebook. Then I realized how the games and apps on Facebook helped me "escape" from life's difficulties. But I've realized I do miss the garden forums so I check back in from time to time.

Carla

Some of the specialty forums have long time posters who either are experts or fancy themselves 'expert' and as with most forums you have a core group and opposing groups.We're lucky here in this generic regional forum to have none of that conflict.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone, new~old~silent reader or frequent poster. Meetcha back in the dirt in 2011 !

You made me realize I must be a lurker. I live near Winterville NC.--moved from western NY. Love it here. Growing season is great but soil needs a lot of help. Love those bluebirds. I wish these forums would post in reverse order so you could see the most relavant dated ones. pages and pages can get tiring.

I am both lurker and poster depending on what is going on in my homelife. In the past 10 years I have lost a wonderful husband after a 10month fight with cancer and was his principal caregiver since he elected to stay at home under hospice care, moved my mother in with me and again became her principal caregiver till she passed away a year ago February again under hospice care at home. Remarried while Mom was still with us and tackled extensive gardening projects with my new husband. I have been fairly active on 4 different garden-web forums as time would permit but more often than not daily life took precedence and a couple of months would go by and I realized I hadn't visited my favorite forums.

This past year both my husband and I have gotten involved with a rather large group of FB gardeners many who are also crossovers from Garden Web. I have become more active with GardenWeb again and have enjoyed catching up with old 'friends' and their gardens. There is nothing like sharing with regional gardeners who can understand your climate, soils and what grows and doesn't grow. Now that my life seems to have settled down I will be around a lot more :) .....

Lynne