I don't know when I've enjoyed a rose slide show so much. It brought back wonderful memories of the UC Berkeley Botanical Garden which I visited many times and love more than any other botanical garden. The El Cerrito Rose Festival was a great reminder of the one time I was fortunate enough to attend. It was an unforgettable experience. Putting faces to well-known names was also very satisfying. Seeing Miriam Wilkins whose rose garden I visited when she was so much younger was very poignant. I remember buying a guilt-inducing number of books from Barbara Worl at her wonderful store. Truly a trip down memory lane for me. Thank you so much Malcolm! Ingrid

Online AND offline registration forms are now available at the HRF website or the HRF FaceBook page (search "Heritage Rose Foundation". I hope to have the fall 2013 newsletter emailed to the membership in the next few days. If you're not a current member and would like a copy, please email me and I'll get you one. It will contain the full schedule, with speaker bios, conference logistics, etc. I'm not sure why, but that web page seems to be a bit 'sticky,' in that if you've been there before, you may get the old, non-updated page. If that seems to be the case (e.g., no downloadable registration form), try refreshing the page in your browser. Here is a link that might be useful: HRF website This post was edited by malcolm_manners on Sat, Aug 24, 13 at 9:56

Moi (raises a dirt-under-the-fingernails hand). Wanna hear Hooks on tea roses and Steven on anything. He's a great auctioneer too. Plus Tom Carruth's tour will help me sort out how I feel about the Huntington these days. Plus plus Greg Lowery, who's worth tagging along with as he talks on his newest subject. Malcolm Manners raises my thinking-about-roses-and-science bar, difficult to do. Maybe he'll have the artisanal soap stuffed in his pocket so I can buy myself a beautiful marbled bar. Plus plus plus, I will go anywhere for a rose sale. The week before this conference, on the drive back from Chico and the California Garden and Landscape History Society conference, we hope to stop in Visalia for a look at Burling's wares. As my favorite author writes, "Nothing but good times ahead."

There is no need to be on the Beltway traveling from either Dulles or Reagan National airports. (For Dulles, I drive Route 29, a short stint on Rt. 66, to Prince William Parkway, then secondary roads to Fredericksburg. It's easy and scenic. For Reagan National, it's I-395/95 southbound the whole way, crossing underneath the Beltway. Depending on time of day, traffic can be bad on I-95.) Richmond is my favorite airport, but there are fewer choices of flights. It's smaller, friendly, and traffic going from there to Fredericksburg is rarely an issue.