Lucky---Lucky---You-----I hope you have wonderful weather and a great trip.

Florence

I do envy you but more likely I could kick myself for not taking advantage of the opportunities I had during the seven years I lived in Europe. Worse yet, I am now married to a Brit, whose home-Birmingham is not that far from David Austin's nursery.

Once again, it's a case of "If I knewn then, what I know now." Ah well. Next time over will be different!!!

Have an excellent visit!

Have a great visit! One day I'll go too!

Melissa

Have a wonderful time! Mottisfont is incredible, and you'll enjoy the gardens everywhere you go!

Lucky you!! My dream trip!

Always nice to welcome back an old friend!

Five years? Just long enough for memories to become a little hazy and need refreshing - and there will be much at Mottisfont that will be new to you.

I hope you really enjoy the Memorial Weekend open garden day with Olga, Nick and others. Those are three gardens that I would unreservedly recommend to any of you East Coasters who have some time to spare. I wonder if Patrick will be joining in? His designed garden(s) must be a wonderful sight by now, and what a treat it would be if he were to share his vast experience with the English Roses and perennials he writes so convincingly about!

Best wishes
Jon

Lori, have a wonderful time, take lots of pictures and report back.

Carol

Lori, I am green from envy:) It is googd to be green in spring, right?
Olga

Envy from South Carolina too. Pure, overwhelming, jealousy is more like it :-). Have a great time, Lori! Take many photo's please.

Carol

Lori, if I lose another 15 lbs fast, can you squeeze me into your luggage? (Joking, of course but I wish I could h go, too!)

I hope you have a wonderful time Lori and I hope you hit the full bloom, but of course it's great to be there at any time.

I think a bloke named Wordsworth had something to say about returning to somehwere near an Abbey after five years...

ENVY

I'd like to take you all in my suitcase with me, but I have to pack a lot of clothes :). I'll be sure to take my camera and take lots of pictures! That part of England is so beautiful. I feel like someone returning from exile after all these years.

Patrick, thank you for recalling the Wadsworth poem. It is long but here is an excerpt from the start which seems appropriate:

"Tintern Abbey"
FIVE years have past; five summers, with the length
Of five long winters! and again I hear
These waters, rolling from their mountain-springs
With a soft inland murmur. -- Once again
Do I behold these steep and lofty cliffs,
That on a wild secluded scene impress
Thoughts of more deep seclusion; and connect
The landscape with the quiet of the sky.
The day is come when I again repose
Here, under this dark sycamore, and view
These plots of cottage-ground, these orchard-tufts,
Which at this season, with their unripe fruits,
Are clad in one green hue, and lose themselves
'Mid groves and copses. Once again I see
These hedge-rows, hardly hedge-rows, little lines
Of sportive wood run wild: these pastoral farms,
Green to the very door; and wreaths of smoke
Sent up, in silence, from among the trees!
With some uncertain notice, as might seem
Of vagrant dwellers in the houseless woods,
Or of some Hermit's cave, where by his fire
The Hermit sits alone.

Lori

Lori are you going to Bath? I remember the most beautiful roses growing by a church there and the river. I wish I had photos, but when I was 24 I wasn't into roses enough to have taken pics of them! But I remember them.
Alnwick Castle and garden were fabulous too.

Lori, I wish you a wonderful trip and look forward to your report back. I have long enjoyed your photos and stories. Now more to come our way!

Rosefolly

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:263977}}

What a wonderful trip-wish I could go to Monttisfont-but I am headed for Sangerhausen...:) !!

patricia

Take care, fare thee well and please return with a hardy selection of photographs. I enjoyed your last visit. My, has it been so long.

Found a picture of the infamous Elf in my garden - must have been 2000/01?
{{gwi:263978}}

Pre-digital camera days . . . maybe we can get some new shots.

Best wishes
Jon

What Patricia said!

Time flys when you are having fun. Enjoy your visit!

F.L.

I'm also marriedto a Brit. You have to get to Sissinghurst. A trek, but well worth it. David Austin's nursery is also fantastic. If you are up north at all, Castle Howard in Yorkshire has an outstanding rose collection. I know Chelsea Flower Show is in May--I think Hampton Court is July, but if you are still there, the shows are highlights of a trip as well.

Well one of us will see the garden in full flush. Since DH and I will be at Mottisfont in 2 weeks it seems you'll have a greater likelihood. I'm terrible at pictures so now I'll get to rely on you to document for folks. I'm very sorry we won't be overlapping though as I've heard that Elf sightings are always a pleasure--I've just missed you once in California, now England. Must be that Pixie Dust.

I can't believe it's been that long either!

Kate, I'm very sorry that I'll miss your visit. I hope we get to meet one of these times.

Patricia e,
Sangerhausen sounds like a wonderful trip too! I hope you have a great time.

Jon, Infamous, eh? I'll try to behave this time.

I don't have an itinerary yet. I'll have only five days to look around so I'm not sure what I can fit in. I'll take loads of photos and report!

Lori that is great news! Please do take lots of pictures.....and do try and sweet talk Jon into accompanying you on your return flight.

I gave it a shot the other week, but you'll notice he is still in England. ;)

Man oh man it would be hard to leave that garden of his though!

Have a wonderful trip!
John