Bamboo and More’s 1st anniversary
Today is Bamboo and More’s 1st anniversary. My first post, “Moving black bamboo,” appeared on October 10, 2010. I can’t believe a year has gone by. Even harder to believe is the fact that I published 340 posts in the last 365 days. Not bad, considering my original goal had been three posts a week!
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Here are some interesting statistics, courtesy of Blogger:
Total number of posts: 340
Total number of comments left by readers: 1004
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Most popular posts:
1. Portland Japanese Garden: Design
2. Wonderful and wacky succulent containers
3. Another morning walk
4. Portland Japanese Garden: Ornaments
5. Three aeoniums
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Day with the most hits: October 4.
My two-part post about the open house of Succulent Gardens nursery in Castroville, CA generated a lot of interest, especially among Facebook fans of Succulent Gardens.
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Countries with the most page views:
Not surprisingly, most blog readers are from the United States, followed by the United Kingdom. The #3 country is a big surprise: the Ukraine. Who knows why? Australia, Canada, Germany, France, the Netherlands, the Philippines, and India round out the top ten.
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Most frequently used Google search keywords:
1. bamboo muhly
2. ghost plant
3. graptopetalum paraguayense
4. echium wildpretii
5. borinda fungosa
Interesting that only #5 refers to an actual bamboo!
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My favorite posts:
This is hard since obviously I try to write about stuff that interests me, but I feel these posts were particularly special:
1. Queen of the night posts (1 2 3 4)
2. Visit to Tradewinds Bamboo Nursery, Gold Beach, OR
3. Mount Shasta Lavender Farms
4. Sacramento Valley from the air
5. Trip to the Southern California desert (1 2 3 4 5)
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My favorite photos:
I love taking photos and I try to illustrate my posts as lavishly as I can. Some of my favorite photos taken over the past 12 months can be seen on this page.
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What I feel I did right:
My posts have been a pretty complete diary of the goings-on in our garden. Not just the things we accomplished, but also what the plants themselves did—when they leaved out, produced shoots, flowered, etc. as the case may be. I’m very happy with how I covered the past 12 months.
By including many photos, I hope that I managed to keep your interest and maybe even inspire you to try a plant or two you’d never grown before—just as I have been inspired by the many other gardening blogs I follow.
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What I feel needs improvement:
I need to take more “big picture” photos. I feel that I focus too much on plant details—leaves, flowers—and not show enough photos of, say, the garden bed or area that I talk about. Panoramic photos are the best for this purpose, and I do make a concerted effort to include them as much as I can.
I want to include more links to other blogs I read regularly. There’s so much great information out there, I want to help my readers discover other bloggers I find interesting. The more of a true network we create, the more all of us can learn.
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Happy Blog Anniversary Gerhard!
ReplyDeleteWe thoroughly enjoy reading your blog, both for the informative and entertaining content, and the beautiful photography. And interesting statistics there!
Looking forward to reading more of your future posts! A virtual cheers here! :)
Congratulations! Your goal was 3 posts a week? Seems like you post pretty much every day.
ReplyDeleteSince you're looking at stats, I'd be interested to see what percentage of posts are about bamboo, and what are about succulents. I suspect a title change to "Succulents, bamboo and more" might be in order (you could keep the same domain name). :-)
Maybe he ought to add "cacti" to the title also! Congrats on your first anniversary. Have thoroughly enjoyed the photos and write-up! I learned a lot and seem to have a bigger abundance of plants in the house since I have to bring some in for the winter! Many Thanks....
ReplyDeleteThere's a large Ukranian contingent in the Sacramento area; you might be picking up readers whose family sent them links to what they're reading locally.
ReplyDeleteHi all, thank you for your nice words. It's been a fun year, and I have no intention of slowing down.
ReplyDeleteAlan and Becky, see the updated logo above.
Alan, I'll figure out the stats, but I'd say it's a pretty even split between bamboo, succulents, and other.
B. Durbin, your explanation makes total sense. I wouldn't have thought of that!
Happy Anniversary my friend! I love your new name. I had a feeling that would happen. I am amazed at the amount of posts you do and that they are all so interesting. I try to do at least two a week. And a lot of time I find that hard. These photos are really great. Hey how did you come up with your stats?
ReplyDeleteCandy, I love writing so that part comes easy. At the beginning I was afraid I'd run out of things to say, but there always seems to be something new coming along.
ReplyDeleteThe stats are in your Blogger account under "Stats."