Hello all, Thanks for a fabulous swap. I owe Matt a special dinner or three for loading the truck and staking out the spot! I am so excited about all my swaps, and the great scores from the Gambler's Circle. I am such a plant-a-holic! Even after the swap, a great visit with Sean & Bev - who gave me a bounty of plants, (I'm her backup / insurance garden) I was still sorely tempted to stop on the way home from Vienna at a roadside plant sale of fabulous blooming sweet williams... Matt saved me from that danger, but only just. I think I may need to get a fourth arbour to hold all the climbing vines from last year and this year :-) This is the first time I've smelled my vining honeysuckle from a trade a couple years ago, it's is the middle of the Friendship garden out front, and is usually tough to get to for all the tall plants. There aren't as many self seeded sunflowers this year, so I was able to tiptoe over there. My garden is so much richer and fuller for all the trades and happy memories of friends who have given them to me. Thanks again, like Ross I am already looking forward to next year's swap. But I am rather daunted at the task ahead of planting all my bounty! Thank goodness a large number of boring iris and black eyed susans are getting torn out this year, that'll make some easy room for newbies. Cheers, Heather / BlueIris3 Hope to see you all at Signet's picnic in daylily season.

I said cat thinking I had a bag in my hand, but it was a mesh for bigger animals, so the cat could easily slips through the holes; pity, next time I will pay more attention to what I hold. (I've got a hope for late spring) grelobe

Sorry, just found this site. David Austin's rose garden is on Bowling Green Lane, Albrighton, WV7 3HB. On the website they give you a map that will help you get there ok. It really is the most amazing place no matter when you go but going when the roses are in bloom is especially fantastic. The timing of that depends on our wonderful weather though of course. I hope you see this message asap and have a lovely time.

Hi Chris - I think there would still be plenty to see at the end of the month, because there are a lot of reblooming roses... and not just the modern ones (although there are tons of those). The hybrid perpetual, bourbon, and polyantha roses should be in their second flush. And the tea roses may be blooming by then, too, and you may even see repeat bloom on the Portland and perpetual moss roses. There are lots of climbers everywhere, too... tea/noisette, hybrid musk, hybrid teas. So all this to say, if you have the time, I think it's worth seeing. I tried to go to the Roseraie de Bagatelle, but it was a special family day, so there was a really long line with lots of children...so we decided not to go. We did spend a day in the gardens at Versailles, but that felt more like a day at a gorgeous park than being in a garden... though I did stumble across roses here and there. There are so many gardens in Paris that we didn't see...lots of reasons to go back! Luxembourg, Jardin des Plantes...and Chateau de Malmaison is still on my list, too. I'm in England now - planning to visit Sissinghurst and Great Dixter this trip, so I'll post pictures of both.