Hi All You are invited to meet me in Amsterdam on May 4, 2012 for the garden tour of a lifetime. We'll visit the horticultural hotspots of Holland and Belgium, including two full days at the Floriade 2012 World Horiticultural Expo. What's Floriade? Glad you asked! Floriade is the International World's Fair for the horticultural world. It is the biggest international flower and garden show. A multitude of countries participate, each bringing their horticultural Best of Show. And, Floriade is held only once every ten years. Meg McComb is a photographer who traveled to Floraide in 2002, can't wait to go again. She reserved her spot on this tour right away. Meg wrote to me about her last trip: I believe the whole country (Holland) is a breathing garden quilt. It really does not matter where we go, public or private----it will be glorious. I came home in '02 with 35, 36 exposure rolls of film, (remember digital was still in it's brief youth). This time I'm going with two cameras an three lenses and at least 4-8 gig cards. I bet I spend the bus ride back to the hotel deleting like a mad woman anyway! Meg won't be disappointed, and neither will you. I've carefully customized the itinerary for garden lovers, garden writers, garden designers, horticulturists, florists -- people like all of us. The tour kicks off on the afternoon we arrive with a walking tour of urban gardens in Amsterdam. Over the course of our ten days, we'll also visit other private gardens, public gardens, the world's largest flower auction, a nursery, a bulb farm and much much more. And I've made sure that we get plenty of time in each location. None of that "Our bus will be boarding in 20 minutes" stuff on this trip! Here's a link to the itinerary Here's a link to the reservation form Please return the reservation form by October 10th to be sure you have a spot on the bus (next to Meg if you'd like).... If the links fail, everything is posted on my home page, http://www.plantsoup.com/ Questions? Lemme know! Nan PS If you know other people who would be interested in joining us, please forward this email to them. ***************************************** Nan Sterman, Plant Soup, Inc TM Garden Journalist • Speaker Gardening Coach • Garden Designer • Horticulture Consultant Phone 760 634-2902 Mail PO Box 231034, Encinitas, CA 92023 Web http://www.plantsoup.com/ Blog http://plantsoup.com/blog/ Video http://www.plantsoup.com/tv-radio.php Author California Gardener's Guide vol II and Waterwise Plants for the Southwest Articles in print San Diego Union Tribune, Los Angeles Times, Sunset Magazine, Organic Gardening, and more…. Board Member, Garden Writers Association, Region VI Founding member, Great Garden Speakers Founding Board Member, Association of Professional Landscape Designers (APLD), San Diego District Founding Chair Encinitas Garden Festival & Tour