Luanne thanks for describing the conference. I feel like I'm still so tired so you did it for me. How lucky we were to attend this event and see our dear rose friends. I'll take any excuse to go to Cambria.

What a wonderful time you have all had; I'm so glad for you all. Thanks for posting, la.

From me as well: thanks for telling us about it. It sounds like it was a great time.

Melissa

Thanks for this wonderful morsel Luanne. Now when you've had some rest you can let the photos begin!
; )

When I flew into San Luis Obispo, I looked out of the plane window and saw rolling green hills and the sparkling water of the Pacific ocean. Such a beautiful sight. We drove down highways surrounded by citrus orchards in full bloom and the fragrance filled the car. We watched the sun set from the terrace of Hearst Castle overlooking the mountains and the ocean and surrounded by roses. I sat in the presence of rosarians I have admired for so many years and talked roses. Anne Belovich is an amazing and charming woman. Carolyn Sanders is quite a force and worked extremely hard at the conference plus she is a lot of fun. Barbara Worl was there, Anita from Sacramento Cemetery was too and she is about the cutest thing I have ever seen. Stephen S. did a wonderful job with the auction! Etienne and his wife are charming and donated so many photo's to the HRF. Jocelen also gave a talk about the Nabannonds in addition to donating lovely photo's. Fabien Ducher and his charming wife Florence spoke about their hybridizing and the history of the Duchers. Not only were the talks informative, they were amusing at times. So many people I was honored to sit and talk roses with. My brain is still tired and right now I can't name them all. Thanks to Gregg for organizing and keeping it all together!

George and I tried to see as much of the state as we could in that short period of time. We left Cambria and took a 5 hour detour to visit the Sacramento Cemetery. It was worth the drive to visit their specimens of Mons. Tillier and Le Pactole. The entire Cemetery is covered with beautiful roses, Iris, (all sorts of plants and trees) and so beautifully maintained! We stepped out of the car and the fragrance was as impressive as the sight of all those roses in full bloom.

We visited, and had a lovely dinner with Carol and the fur children. Her roses were beautiful. You should see her Buff Beauty!! We laughed, had a terrific meal (the dessert was my favorite part)!

Paula, Luanne, and I wandered the streets of Cambria poking around in shops and met Norman and George for lunch in the nicest and most charming restaurant. Paula's Tom was on a bike ride up the coast (did I mention what a nice, smart man he is?)

I had the honor of visiting Pam and Michael's Red Rose Ridge. George and I stopped the car at the top of their driveway and just gazed with slack jaws at the sight of her garden, the mountains, and her home nestled into the hillside. Never have I seen anything more beautiful. Pams goodness and kindness radiate from her face and her whole being. Her talent is not only evident in her studio, it is obvious in every direction you turn in her home and her garden. Michael, with the outrageous sense of humour and the mischievous glint in his eyes loves his Pamela and supports her at every turn. You should see the structures he has built for the roses! Oh, and I got to stay in a fairy tale, enchanted bedroom. I felt like a princess. I loved them both so much. I have taken many photo's of her garden, when my brain starts functioning again, I will post them. Words can't describe the wonder and beauty of it all.

And my dear Luanne with the most glorious MAC in the world! Her garden was full of blooms to welcome us. She and Norm took an entire week to escort us around and entertain us! Everyone knows I love my LA, now I met Norman and love him too! The food was delicious, the warmth of their welcome was wonderful, the garden was glorious!

I know I have forgotten something or someone. I am still so tired. But it is a good tired. I feel very blessed to have met so many nice people and visited the lovely state of California. Next time I will bring my winter clothes, though, it's cold out there! :-)

Carolina

I knew I forgot something! We also had the honor of visiting Gregg's garden. Home of Vintage gardens mother plants. It is the most wonderful place. Thousands of roses that are healthy, beautifully trained and lots of them were blooming. I came home with a list of roses I "need" after seeing them in person. Gregg is a gracious, kind man who I felt like I had known forever. Lovely day.

Carolina

If there is one thing that will melt all your resolve to stop buying more roses, it is a walk with Gregg Lowery through his garden. Suddenly I am completely captivated by Boursaults and Spinossissimas and Hybrid Perpetuals...Rare roses,oh where will I put them and how and when???
I'm so sorry it was so cold for Carolina. Today of course after a lovely rain it is warm and balmy.
la

Carol thanks for posting more about the conference and your visit.

Did you get to stay in Luanne's rose room?
Did her roses keep you awake at night with all their yakking or did they clam up because a she had a visitor? I know her garden must've been an awe inspiring site.

What a wonderful trip it must have been. And you saw Pam's garden! How many of us would just die to see Pam's garden.

And you got to see Fang's garden and the huskers. What was dessert? hmmm?

The conference sounds so interesting. It really sounds like the trip of a lifetime. I'm so glad you guys had such a great time.

More! More!

Carol got the rose room,the ironed sheets,the bouquet with the smelly roses etc. and the cold weather. The roses were talking, they're just soft spoken except some of the orange ones. They tend to be louder. Of course she'll show up and answer the rest...dessert was a Meyer lemon custard cake with strawberries and whip, one of the best I ever ate.
Wish you'd been there. My camera broke, so no help there. New one comes Monday.
la

Mmmm. Wish I'd been there too!
Okay. Spill. What's the new camera?

Yes, I was treated like a princess at LA's and at Pam's. I could get used to that treatment :-). Belle Story was peeking in my window along with Clementina at LA's. At Pam's I had a view of the mountains and gardens. Those Californians sure know how to make you feel loved and welcomed. If it was just a tad warmer out there....

Carolina

We are actually having a cooler than usual spring. This is a good thing, because the spring flush is coming on more slowly and I hope will last a bit longer. But Carolina is right, we never match her summer heat out here. We get some hot days in my part of the Bay Area, but nothing like South Carolina.

We'd love to entice her back out her again. And some of you others, too.

Y'all have said this better than I, but let's not forget the fresh baked scones for breakfast at Luanne's and the roast chicken with yogurt and hoisin sauce for dinner.

George

I haven't forgotten it at all. In fact, we are having LA's version of roast chicken for dinner. Somehow, I managed not to gain 10 pounds, it wasn't for lack of wonderful food.

Carol

If it's heat you want, just come to Sacramento in the summer! We readily get over 95-100 degrees, disproving the "it's not the heat, it's the humidity" theory - if the temps are triple digit, it's HOT. It was 91 degrees during our Open Garden, but things have cooled off, prolonging our bloom just as Paula described. I was afraid that a week away from the cemetery and my home garden would mean that I'd miss a significant amount of the spring flush, but things are still looking wonderful.

I'm so glad that Carol and George (and Luanne and Norm?) made it to the cemetery. Sorry that Kathryn, Barbara and I were still down in Cambria, and missed you. The New Zealanders visited the cemetery yesterday - Jocelen took a lot of photos, as did Joanne. They were cold, too. Visitors just don't expect California to be anything but warm! I have a photo of my Ohioan brother and SIL standing in front of the Golden Gate Bridge one cold August day, wearing shorts and T-shirts, and amazingly blue skin.

So - everybody who comes here - be prepared to dress in layers - but we'd love to have you, one and all!
Anita

Jackie, in answer to the new camera question--Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ18K. It has an 18x optical zoom, a stabilization feature and 8.1 megapixels. It runs around $300 at Onecall.com with second day shipping because I want it now! MY roses are blooming. It should be here Monday and you will see something next week, I hope.
la

Boy Luanne that sounds like an awful lot of camera for $300! Great going!

So Monday's gonna be a banner day. You get your new camera and I'm supposed to get my roses from David Austin. I finally used that prize money from the photo contest two years ago lol. Let's hope the weather stays nice for planting.

Jackie, I really like this particular on-line dealer. They will be calling me next week to see how I like the camera and how it is working. It will come right away and the salespeople are very knowledgeble. They matched a lower price from another dealer and their shipping was cheaper. What DAs are you getting? Redoute might work in your climate and it is so remontant--blooms all season here. Golden Celebration is another remontant highly fragrant DA.
la

The Lumix takes better pictures than Dave's Canon digital Rebel SLR....the antishake feature is the key. It's the best pocket-sized camera you could hope for. Even the sound is amazing on the video feature!

Lila

Thanks for the report-----but Oh how I would love to meet all you wonderful rose people.

Sounds like a wonderful time was had by all

florence

Lila thanks so much for review on the camera. It is most encouraging. I doubt it will make me better than Labrea on his rebel but one can have big fluffy pipe dreams! LOL
la