It's Carnival Time!

Welcome to Day One of the Garden Bloggers' Retro Carnival! If you've been following the blog recently, you'll know I suggested that people should send me links to old posts they'd like to revive. A big thank you to everyone who responded - I've had great fun reading all the posts and I know other people will enjoy them too.

Most of the posts fall into categories, so I shall be publishing the links over four or five days, each day focusing on a specific category. Incidentally, if you haven't yet got round to sending a link, it's not too late. as long as I get it in the next few ddays, there'll be time to include it. Use the comments box.

OK - let the carnival begin. I want to start with a post that just probably sums up what most of us think about gardening - Yvonne of Country Gardener arguing that gardening without the three C’s – care, commitment and consistency – is nothing but “outdoor decorating”.

It's one that's hard to follow, so we'll change tack and look at some more lighthearted posts. A lot of you linked to posts about wildlife - and other animals - in the garden. And here they are :

Anthony at the Compost Bin had a visit from a Turkey - and it wasn't even Thanksgiving.

Not all the animals in your gardens are uninvited visitors. Down on the Allotment gives a round-up of some of the dogs who keep various garden bloggers company when they’re hard at work.

And still on the subject of dogs, what bulbs smell like a dog with severe problems of indigestion ? Find out at Garden Detective

Finally today, for some stupendous photos of insect life in the garden, see these two posts from Moe at Iowa Voice : Flower flies on spiderwort and an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail on a Buttonbush

That's all for now, but there'll be more tomorrow. Not surprisingly, a lot of you wrote about growing things. So tomorrow it's potatoes and the shipping forecast, purple cauliflowers, phallic fungi and much more!