I'm envious, too! I would strongly urge you to get a map of the London Underground as well for the London area. I was there 10 years ago and there wasn't much we couldn't get to that we wanted to see (including Kew) that wasn't too far from the Tube. (Oh, that we had something like that in L.A.!) And no, it wasn't creepy like you might expect a subway. Of course your mileage may vary, but if you plan ahead, you can take advantage of discounting by buying several days or however it works, I don't remember anymore. London city may be the worst of driving by car so you won't miss anything except angina ;-) We also found the Tube to run often enough for convenience. Whatever you do, Mind the Gap!!!! 'Nother thought in London if you have time, there are walking tours here and there, most meet near a Tube station. Most tour guides have some sort of schedule. We took the evening Jack the Ripper tour by a guy that wrote a book on him, as he was the most recommended. Your taste may vary! But there are all kinds of these for what was reasonable pricing. A good time filler per one's interest and time offered. You might also do the London bus tour early on to get an over view of the city and decide what you'd like to see. If you have time for anything not garden related (!?!), the most wonderful time we had was at the Tower of London / White Tower where King Henry killed many of his wives, and little princes were bricked up in the masonry and so on. As I recall, there are also replicas of the crown jewels, the armory (fascinating!), the tower ravens, and many, many more things. I cannot begin to say what a good time it was and we both wished that we had planned a FULL day to take it all in, imho, if you see nothing else touristy in London, this is a MUST see. The Beefeaters were MOST excellent tour guides. If you're lucky, you might also find one of your relative's names carved in stone before they were executed! Alas, poor cousin Henry T!!! My cousin wanted to go to the pottery district, dunno about pricing with the dollar now, but we both got stuff for ourselves and Christmas presents. We went to Wedgewood only due to time (took the train, I think from Manchester, I'm not sure) but worth a stop for you if it is on your way to somewhere else just for the tour of how they make the china. There are many other companies like Spode in the area so something to check ahead to see if it fits in (if you do buy, we had our pieces shipped home). Nowadays with these shops more common over here and online, I dunno that it's worth to stop to buy except for the memory, but again, the tour was a great memory of something we don't have over here. Have fun!!!

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!

Thanks BenBirding..as it happens we have violets that seed themselves all over the place here, so I will make sure hubby doesn't attack them with the weedwhacker as he is wont to do :-) Susanlynne48..thanks for your list. I am hoping to include as many native plants as I can, so Spring Beauty is a good one. One thing though..I think Phlox drummundii is native to Texas and that area of the US, so wouldn't have the ecologic benefit as plants native to New England. But..it is a good butterfly plant so I'll include it in my list!! Phlox drummundii is an annual in my region so it needs to be started indoors now to get blooms in summer. Is Serviceberry (Amelanchier) a good butterfly plant? I have several of them growing and they grow lots of berries, so I know there are insects polllinating them..do butterflies use them? Ellen

Hi Sharon, Just wanted to add another welcome to New England. My mom lived in Peabody until last year, and I used to live in Peabody, but that was another lifetime ago. It's a nice town. Now I live a little further south and west of you. You will get snow. My mom always used to get snow whenever we did, just a little less, because of your proximity to the coast. I grew up here, but I did buy the Northeast Gardening book by Sunset. I guess it's an ok book, I don't know why I bought it. A compulsion to buy books, I guess. :-) There is nothing like actual experience, and I have gardened and lived here all my life, so I can't really say if the info in there will be useful to someone from Calif. But just wanted to let you know that there is a Sunset gardening book for the Northeast, and it's a big thick book. Besides all the other stuff people have mentioned, I would recommend that you get a good book about New England wildflowers, if that interests you. (I have one, but unfortunately I can't put my hands on it right this second, so I can't tell you the title, but I'll keep looking for it) There are a lot of wildflowers and spring ephemerals that show up briefly in the spring along with the early bulbs that help make spring a joy after all the cold and snow. You don't want to pull one thinking it's a weed. Some ARE weeds, but others like bloodroot and jack-in-the-pulpit, are great to have. If I were you I would wait to order bulbs and see what you may already have in the spring. All the foliage from daffs and tulips and crocuses has died back, so like others have said, you may not know what else you have. Oh BTW, the fall foliage is a real treat. Just wait a few weeks. You don't have to go anywhere special to see it. Just drive or walk anywhere and you will see some gorgeous fall colors. Keep coming here to GW too, it will keep you sane in the winter. Alison