A week into 2024 and so far, so good. I’m very lucky to be looking ahead and figuring life is pretty good. The world is getting more complicated, for sure. But I have so many wonderful reasons to feel grateful and you are one of them. Thank you so much for your interest, for following my blog and for taking the time to read my posts. I’m grateful for every ‘like’ and every comment. Your support means a lot to me.

In fact, you have inspired me to revisit my More And Less list. Last January, I wrote about what I’d like to see/do more of in my gardening pursuits and what I’d like to see/do less. It’s kind of a New Year’s Resolutions round-up without the harshness of quantifiable goals. Life goes by far too quickly, in my opinion, to deal with self-inflicted annoyances.

But, back to you.

What you love

One of the wonders of WordPress is the amount of information you can find about your own blog. I have gotten lost (a couple of times) in the depths of statistics available. But end-of-year round-ups of most popular things is fascinating. Here’s what MinistryOfTheFence.me followers have loved the most:

MOST POPULAR POST OF ALL TIME: A Lotus Confusion Involving Water Lilies

Why? I couldn’t tell you. Although lotuses and water lilies do have a certain exotic appeal to them.

RUNNERS-UP FOR MOST POPULAR POSTS OF ALL TIME:

• New, Old Foodscaping Ideas For Any Garden
• June & July’s Spectacular Ontario Wildflowers
• 5 Gardening Ideas Make The Most Of Weeping Conifers

Is there a trend here? Looks pretty random to me. But, randomness can be so inspiring. If you pair these findings with the most popular tags I’ve used plus the most popular subject categories I’ve covered, a picture begins to emerge.

TOP TAGS OF ALL TIME:

• Garden ideas
• Container gardening
• Native plants
• Southern Ontario

TOP CATEGORIES OF ALL TIME:

• Botanic mechanics
• Gardens to visit
• Garden decor
• Natural wonders
• The edible garden
• Container gardening

This photo of an installation in Reford Gardens, first published in this blog in 2016, combines two popular categories: Gardens To Visit and Container Gardening.

More mores

Last January I listed three ‘Mores’ I wanted to add to my gardening pursuits, including more opportunities to sit comfortably and take in the views and more ways to take advantage of our beautiful blue sky. In my “Less” list, I had three points of contention, including lessening “The Tyranny Of The Tasteful Colour Combo.”

With you in mind, I’m excited about adding way more mores to this blog.

• More gardening ideas
• More container gardening ideas
• More gardens that we can all explore
• More plants native to Canada and Southern Ontario in particular, either to grow yourself or simply discovered in the wild
• More edible gardening ideas

Wildflowers, like this group of Aquilegia shot near our cottage on the Bruce Peninsula in southwestern Ontario, are a popular subject for this blog.

No more lesses

And I’ve decided not to add any more “Less”-es. This year will be challenging for all of us. We’ll be sharing some really big concerns like the climate crisis. And, of course, we’ll all have our own special concerns unique to our lives. Life is, after all, full of surprises. So I’m purposefully going to say “Yes!” to “more”. More photo safaris to discover new wildflowers, more travel to gardens of all sizes, more planting and pruning and garden puttering mixed thoroughly with more get-togethers in the garden with friends and family. And more posts to you about the gardening loves we share.

Here’s to 2024. The garden is out there. Let’s grow boldly, together.