Design

I had a GREAT time last summer at the Garden Bloggers gathering in Buffalo.  Check out this series of posts . So I'm definitely keen on going to the Garden Bloggers Fling 2011 this summer in Seattle. I'm a veteran of many years of scientific meetings (hmmm), botanical garden (APGA) meetings (much more interesting and collegial with great garden study tours), but the Garden Bloggers meetup was a joy -- how fun to interact with fellow garden bloggers while visiting wonderful gardens.  And, there were NO talks in windowless hotel rooms. How nice. The BGCI International Congress of Garden Educators has been another favorite meeting  -- what a wonderful experience to interact with counterparts from gardens around the world.  I've been to two:  in NYC and Oxford, England -- both great. I've thoroughly enjoyed Garden Writers Association meetings for the last three years, (in Portland, Raleigh, and Dallas) too, for similar reasons. There are talks to listen to (in those...

I'm heading off tomorrow for a conference (Garden Writers Association) in Raleigh, NC. I'm keen as I haven't been to the 'Triangle' in NC for some years (at least 11 or 12). Home to three major universities, the 'Triangle' has the NC Botanical Garden at UNC Chapel Hill (focused on native plants), a favorite of mine, the JC Raulston Arboretum (at NC State University, focused on interesting plants from around the world), and the Sarah P. Duke Gardens (at Duke University), which includes a variety of lovely gardens, including a wonderful native plant area. We'll be visiting all of these during the conference. In addition, there are wonderful private gardens (Montrose) and great nurseries (Plant Delights and Niche Gardens) included, and interesting gardening vendors in the exhibits. I had a thoroughly enriching time last year in Portland at my first GWA conference. I think that garden writers (really garden communicators) are essentially gardening educato...

Heading to a conference on the other side of the North American continent takes me from Eastern oak-hickory forest and old fields to the damp western slopes of the Cascades. I may not see much in the way of natural areas in downtown Portland, but it is certainly a city of gardens, parks, and focused (and contained) urban growth. Rosehill Cottage chair My part of North America (the Southeast) exemplifies sprawl and a larger ecological travel footprint, according to an expert interviewed on our CU-produced program (Your Day) for SC-ETV Public Radio, aired as I was driving to the airport. There’s certainly irony in that, but I guess I believe in the benefits of travel, and hope the carbon offset programs do some good! But he also spoke about how Portland had made a choice between expanding highways and mass transit, opting for transit. I’ll take a light rail system from the airport to the conference hotel for about $2.30. If I have time to go to the other side of the Willamette River,...

Leaving home for a couple of weeks, especially at such a nice time of the year in our garden, comes with a few mixed feelings. Everything is green and lush – before summer’s heat starts to crisp things around the edges. The vegetable plants and tomatillo and eggplant seedlings are doing well, young potatoes are forming (I harvested a few early ones), and the squash plants are looking good. But it’s also a wonderful time to visit English gardens in their late spring stages; my only previous trip (during the growing season) was in September, also a wonderful time, but a different flowering palette. I’m planning to visit Great Dixter and Sissinghurst again, but am also looking forward to visiting RHS Wisley, West Dean, Beth Chatto’s garden, Nymans, Mrs. Mitchell’s Kitchen and Gardens, Munstead Wood, Downderry Nursery, Iden Croft Herbs, and Chelsea Physic Garden, in addition to as many on the National Gardens scheme that are open while I’m there. So my sense of anticipation has been bu...