A photo of me, Fred Gonsowski, writer of Fred Gonsowski Garden Home.
The Statistics screen provided by WordPress.
In the world of blogging, I still see it takes a village to get to this point. I was helped by a lot of really nice people who I don’t know, or most-likely will never meet. Those people found my website and pinned my articles on their Pinterest boards, told others about my posts on Facebook, and have linked me as part of their articles on their websites.
I do feel sites like the San Francisco Chronicle, Redbook mag.com and eHow have kind of legitimized my writing by using my posts on design and gardening as either a reference or resource for their articles. To be included as part of their pieces is an honor.
Getting to a point of having one million posts read did not happen overnight; it took four years. When I first started in the Fall of 2010, I had 299 posts read, followed by 17,636 in 2011, 148,081 for 2012, 297,252 for 2013, 516,067 for 2014 and 20,807 since January 1, 2015 (click on photo or graphs to enlarge).
I still remember way back in time, when I first started the blog and had reached eight thousand page views / articles read, and thought that was great. How quick time has flown by and how much the numbers have changed.
Looking over the different posts I’ve written, drawings I made, and photos I took kind of helps me to isolate periods of time, that I would not be able to pinpoint without those images and words.
I do find it interesting how different posts are received. Some have universal appeal and have been read everyday since I posted them, while others, even if I think they would be of interest, are looked at by few. I’ve also found out that people are interested in Christmas topics starting at the beginning of September, and still are wondering how to put lights on a Christmas tree, way into the middle of January. The planting of tulip and daffodil bulbs you would thing would be of interest in the Fall, but that has not been the case. The time of year when people are looking to know more about Spring flowering bulbs is from January on, when they start poking up out of the frozen soil, ready to start growing again.
Finally, I do think blogging, even if a person gets a lot of comments is really a solitary project. It is something a person does for themselves, not something a person’s friends or relatives are really interested in, want to hear about or care to read. It is a project that is supported by the hundreds or thousands of unseen and unknown people who visit a site daily.
So to the unknown and unseen, I say, Thanks for Showing Up! WordPress counted your activities and they passed them on to me, which encourages me to keep writing on ;-]
Fred Gonsowski Garden Home 
Congratulations Fred! Keep up the good work! I enjoy yor blog a lot!
You are pinned quite often on Pinterest, I see. I see your lamp height drawings on there a lot! In fact, that may be how I first found out about your blog to begin with.
I agree that you do thus for yourself, but inam so glad that you share what you do with the world! 🙂
Hope 2015 brings you nothing but joy and peace, and lots of inspiration!
Hi there Patricia, I’ve been pinned tens of thousands of times on Pinterest. I did not initially know what it was, when I first started the blog. One day, a long time ago, it show up on my WordPress blog dashboard, as the Pinterest people were directed people to my site. I find it interesting how the pins show up in waves of topic interests. Each day I can see which Pinterest sites sent readers my way, and how many were sent from that person’s site. It is also interesting to see what people pin, and how many articles are repined or liked on different peoples boards. The best to you in 2015 also ;-}
We are all thanking YOU, Fred, for all your posts. Often, I’ll just do a quick read-through first, but will later hunker down for a long thorough and enjoyable perusal. Then I usually revisit to digest what i missed the first time!
So it must have been YOU Teresa, my most prolific commenter (as seen in WordPress’s 2014 in Review), who got me to the one million point ;-} All I can say to you is Thanks for your Efforts!
Very Good Mister Fred! We await more this year!
It is truly an honor and surprise that you commented Mr. Jeff. There is a first for everything, and it is nice you chose to do it when I hit one million ;-}
It’s so great to hear that your blog is getting the recognition it deserves! I’ve read many of your posts, and I keep coming back to remind myself about Mr. Gonsowski’s advice on this and that as we set up our home. We used your Christmas articles as my teenage son and I decorated our new artificial tree this year. We have a corner fireplace in our living room with 2 built-out open rooms (barely any wall space), so I used several of your articles to learn about furniture arrangement, lighting, visually dividing the room, etc., etc. I wish you had a book I could buy! I appreciate your writing voice, your approach to design and decorating, and your beautiful visuals/illustrations. I don’t have time to sit around looking at thousands of images of decorated rooms, and it’s a wonderful relief to find a writer using theory that can be applied in anyone’s situation. Thank you for all of your work and dedication – may 2015 be your best year yet!
Thanks for your comment Heather and the best in this new year to you and your family! I don’t have a book to sell, but maybe some day some publishing company will find my blog articles and consider my writing for a book. For now, look at Interior Decorating Principles under Categories on the right; all of my decorating posts are filed there.
Akemashite omedetou gozaimasu! (Congratulations in the New Year) I have been away from your blog over the winter and was pleased to find you site today is flourishing still! You are right, Pinners do love your advice, as I see your pins everywhere! I stopped by today to see if I could use some of your landscaping ideas for my new home in Japan. As you might guess, land is at a premium here so an article on fully utilizing a tiny lot (we are big gardeners here and really cram things in) would be a wonderful read. Best in the new year.
Suzanne
Hi there Suzanne, Have you ever read my posts When Designing a Perennial garden it’s all about the Shapes of leaves and Colored Foliage adds the WOW Factor to a Garden. I think those two articles are very important to any garden, no matter how small or large. My post Looking at Evergreens in a Garden might also get you thinking about the directed action of the plants branching habits and needles/leaves. The main thing I think you should think about in a small garden is planting things that grow upward, like vines, as they don’t take up space close to the ground and to consider dwarf plants, rocks, ground covers and possibly some kind of water feature in your small space, even it the water feature is wall mounted.
Hey Fred! Just saying hello in real time! It’s almost like we are texting, lol! Have a good night!
Thanks for pointing me to your other posts. I read them all and got some great ideas. The water feature is a hit – I’ve thought about a wall water feature that faces our house as a way to utilize a very narrow side yard, possibly adding vining plants on an arbor (behind it) to fill it out. We have a large patio door on the side that could use a white pergola for rose bushes. It would provide a lovely view for us and for our neighbors.
We have been thinking about color, foundation plantings and specimens. For evergreens, we have one Japanese pine that is planted in the ground as a specimen. It is a sentimental addition, as it actually grew quite on its own from a seedling on the wind from six years ago, in the back yard of our first house. We nurtured it and it grew about a foot a year! A Japanese gardening enthusiast friend staked it and planted it at our new home and it is thriving. We also transferred several rosebushes to large pots– for now.
We have three 4′ gold crest conifers (Monterey cypress), growing in large pots until we decide where to site them. I’d like to use them against our red brick house. We also have an upright 3′ Japanese plum (pink flower) -temporarily in a large pot– the trunk and branches are a deep red and might go well with the gold crest? I’ve had my eye on a weeping plum (deep pink) that seems to be a miniature that may need a pot. My large pots are either clay color or bright navy glazed pots. Few homes here have space for lawns, so we’ll likely use gravel and ground covering evergreens (dark grey-green) or possibly the bright shiny boxwood– wonder what you think is preferable with the gold crest? Also, if I could add tall evergreens, I was thinking of Italian cypress for their height and compact nature. Would that be OK near the gold crest conifers? Boxwood might be good mid height planting? Can’t wait to get started — need only to wait on the weather to clear!
I really do appreciate your knowledge and advice on garden projects and love how you like to use objects in the garden for interest. Very creative blog!
Sincerely,
Suzanne
Hi there Suzanne, I want you to read these posts that I’ve writtem, they hopefully will inspire you
Roses, Planting, Pruning and General Care,
When Designing a Shade Garden, think Focal Point, Plant Color and Shapes of Leaves,
Some ideas about Planting Trees by your House for Curb Appeal,
Distance Foundation Plants from your House when Planting,
Foundation Planting, Laying out Foundation Plants in the Front of Your Home,
Putting Foundation Plants across the front of your house,
Some Ideas about using Garden Ornaments, they add that Finishing touch to a Garden.
I hope these posts will be of interest. Not knowing/seeing what your land looks like, and not knowing about all kinds of plants, I can only go so far with my suggestions, I hope what I’ve suggested will be of some help.
Just stumbled across your blog and I am sooooo thrilled!!!! I struggle with decorating and arranging things to look nice and not stiff. I will utilize your blog often!!!
Hi there Stacy, thanks for your comment, soo few people type me notes, for over a million articles read so far, probably 500 or so people wrote me, and the other 500 or so comments made, were me typing back to them. Make sure you look at Interior Decorating Principles on the right of the screen, it is under Categories, all of my decorating posts are there. At the end of each list are the words older posts, click on them to go back further in time. Have Fun!
I just got on for the first time today. The post on arranging furniture for a long, narrow great room was extremely helpful… Particularly the sketches. I never post on blogs but just wanted to share a thank you! I will bookmark your site
Thanks Shawna for your comment, it is appreciated ;-}
Hi Fred, I was searching your name when I found your blog. (Sorry, this is not related to the blog) I have just received a painting by you but it seems out of the norm of your style. It is a beautiful painting of Trees in Winter dated Nov 1977. On the back is your signature again with an address and a phone number. Title of “Winter Landscape”. I just wondered if you had any more information on this piece and why it is not the style I most commonly see of your work. Thanks! Pam
Hi there Taylopa, Every person who is into art work starts somewhere, and what you have is something I made just after graduating college. No one starts with an original style, and some artists never develop one. My original style, the Big Eyed People, if that is the style that you feel represents the highpoint of my art career, started at that time, but I still made realistic things that I sold at art and craft shows, back in the day. Only after finding that people wanted my whimsical pieces, did I stop making the landscapes. After the Big Eyed People, my style changed to the interiors. Someone, a year or so ago, photocopied one of my old paintings and sent it to me. Even though it had my name on it, I don’t remember making it. I made a lot of things over my time selling art, including painting pictures on rocks/stones, they were things a person could pick up for about five dollars each. As for painting medium, mostly all of my paintings were made using acrylic paints, I did sell some hand made wood cut and linoleum prints, and there might be some pastel, and watercolor pieces out there, but there would be very few of them. Thanks for your comment, hope I helped you a bit ;-}
Thank you for taking the time to answer. I wish you well. Pam
What an awesome achievement, Fred! So happy to have discovered you and your amazing blog and articles — my life has been infinitely enriched! Keep on bringing them…and thank you so much for all that you do! You’re a treasure…
Thanks Susan!!!! I’ve never been called a treasure before, but it sounds really good and makes me smile ;-}