"We should all strive to sow, grow, and sustain good things in life's garden. I hope you enjoy these brief writings in this garden blog about my gardens, gardening adventures and occasional garden opinions, and are inspired to get out and do a little digging and hoeing in your own gardens, wherever and whatever they may be. This is May Dreams Gardens because all year I dream of the days in May when the sun is warm, the skies are blue, the grass is green, and the garden is all new again!"

This is how we are introduced to Carols May Dreams Gardens. I know, for myself, that she has inspired me to get out and do a little digging more times than I can count. She has also inspired me, and others, to think about who we are as gardeners. She has asked, in this past year, what makes a gardener? She has wondered about whether someone who doesn't grow from seeds can truly be a gardener. She has started the entertaining and informative Garden Bloggers Book Club, which has done a lot to bond those of us who participate closer together. It's a wonderful feeling to pick up a book and know that several others are doing the same thing, and that you can write and read about that book to your heart's content. Instead of resting on her laurels with the success of the GBBC, she started the equally wonderful Garden Bloggers Bloom Day. Inspired by Elizabeth Lawrence's comment from Two Gardeners (a GBBC selection) that "“We can have flowers nearly every month of the year," the Garden Bloggers Bloom Day gives us all a chance to share our gardens and to experience flowers from other parts of the world. Talk about community!

And that's exactly why Carol won the 2007 Mouse & Trowel Award for "Garden Blogger You'd Most Like to Have as a Neighbor." She's done so much to build our little community; to bond us to one another and give us more ways to share our love of gardening with the world. Not to mention that she's got a collection of hoes that most of us will never even come close to! Humor, kindness, community, and a true addiction to gardening---that's why we love Carol.

Ballot Comments About Carol:

"Carol is just so sweet. I'm not a morning person, but she is one of the very few people I would be willing to hold a conversation with BEFORE my morning coffee."

"Carol has done so much for the garden blogging community - she is great."

"All of the nominees seem very nice, but Carol goes out of her way to do things to unite the garden blogging community."

"Carol has really motivated us to share our gardens with each other with Garden Bloggers Bloom Day and with the book club."

"Very down to EARTH."

"Carol's posts always make me want to get out there and plant something. She'd be a great neighbor!"

"I wonder if she'd let me borrow her hoes?"

"Carol has brought so many of us together with the book club and Bloom Day."

"Books, blooms, and hoes---what's not to like?"

In honor of May Dreams Gardens Day, I'm also participating in my first Garden Bloggers Bloom Day...the photos accompanying this post were all taken in my garden this morning. Thanks, Carol, for everything you do. I know I'd love to have you as a neighbor!