More garden 'siteseeing' among the best

Several people e-mailed to say that they hadn't been aware of the Blotanical Awards to outstanding gardening blogs/websites, which we featured here. So, I thought those same people would enjoy the Mouse and Trowel Awards (popularly known as the Mousies).

This awards program, to recognize quality in garden blogging, was developed by freelance writer and garden blogger Colleen Vanderlinden.

Many of the Mouse and Trowel winners are the same as Blotanical's, but you'll find a couple of new sites. These are:

Best Website of the Year: MyFolia, which allows you to track when your all plants sprout, bloom, and are harvested.  A tour helps you figure out if this would be useful to you.  To me, the site's most interesting part is connecting you with gardeners around the world who grow the same plants you do, or live in the same type of climate.

Best Gardening Podcast: Wiggly Wigglers , which offers weekly podcasts on the environment, wildlife, gardening, farming, and biodiversity. They're perfectly hilarious in that very British style of humor.

The website of Wing Haven Gardens and Bird Sanctuary isn't a  blog and it hasn't won any awards -- that I know of -- but it is featured in the February issue of Southern Living magazine and should interest anyone who loves the idea of attracting birds to the garden.

The story of the garden is quite appealing and the listings of plants in the various sections of the gardens will be helpful to those who are interested in a garden that becomes a home to many species of birds.

I've never visited Wing Haven, but can't wait for my next trip to Charlotte, N.C., so I can. For now, I'll enjoy vicarious siteseeing and also using the tips Steve Bender of Southern Living picked up at the garden.

(NOTE: To go to the Monitor's main gardening page -- which contains articles and blog posts on many topics -- click here.)