Gardening is fun, it is rewarding, obsessive and lonely unless you have special gardening friends. There is nothing better than doing the nursery field trips looking for those special plants each year. It is even more rewarding if you have someone that shares that wanderlust each spring when it's time to hit the garden centers.
I have such a friend who is willing to drop everything and look for plants, even going out of state to visit a unique garden center! We have travelled miles together looking for those new introductions, attending plant walks, workshops, etc. I talked her into joining my garden group, and I think she feels it was a good choice, lots of obsessive gardeners all in one place with lunch thrown in and usually a speaker.
Garden blogging is a wonderful connection for gardeners but it does not replace climbing into the 4-wheel drive with a buddy to go "plant chasing."