It is always a treat to get away on these symposiums. a wonderful chance to network with others and renew friendships, make new contacts and find out what is new in the gardening world. These symposiums happen each year and in a different part of the country. The symposium for 2005 will be in Vancouver, BC and I personally invite you to become a member so that you can participate in one of the best ways of meeting people in your field - whether that be as a writer, photographer, editor or gardener. Contact me at donna@icangarden.com and I can tell you more!

OK, enough for the commercial, but I am really thrilled to be a part of this group of people, and many writers on our site are as well.

I arrived Friday evening, had time to get from the airport to the Melville Marriott Hotel, unpack, register and get ready to go out to a special function put on by Garden Media Group. The supplier booths were set up to visit this evening, but I did not have the time to visit them. Our coaches were ready and waiting to deliver us to a beautiful restaurant called the Milleridge Inn in Jericho, NY for nibbles and drinks, then a great buffet dinner. We had a chance to sit and chat with suppliers in the gardening world like Ball, Campania, Conard-Pyle, Eden, GIYP and Hines. Thank you for a wonderful evening!

The next morning before leaving for our first day's activities, I pulled back the curtains in my room to discover that it faced the atrium and swimming pool. A wonderful view of the sun shining in through all the glass.

We visited the private garden of Connie Cross, one of LI's most admired garden designers and owner of Environmentals, the wholesale nursery that introduced the then unheard of concept of selling containerized plants on Long Island. Her garden was full of delights to the eye, from the gate onward. She had placed huge baskets of peaches and apples on the table for us to enjoy as well as refreshments. Most of us were too busy taking pictures, both inside her home as well as in her garden. I have never seen a home so full and yet so uncluttered. Even her doves looked so at home and happy here. Wonderful combinations of plants and very easy on the eye to go from place to place just enjoying the thought of what was coming next.