Oh my gosh, if you ever get an invitation to visit Harry Hay's gardens, take it! I had the great opportunity to visit him and his plants for an entire afternoon (which wasn't nearly long enough to more than just glance at everything he has planted). We were in the UK for a wedding and sightseeing, and Paul Chapman very graciously arranged a visit to Harry Hay's on my last day there. (This was only a few days after the record-breaking day when the temperature in London reached or exceeded 100° F for the first time since they started measuring temperature in London several hundred years ago.) As David says, Harry's collection is mindblowing. We had spent a day some days before this visiting Kew Gardens, and while it is very nice, and the various greenhouses and alpine houses are fantastic, I was slightly disappointed at the grounds themselves, especially when compared to botanical gardens I've visited such as the Huntington Gardens here in California or the ones in Perth, Australia; Honolulu, Hawaii; Singapore; Kandy, Sri Lanka; or Kirstenbosch, Cape Town, South Africa, to name just a few that are amazing in my unlearned opinion. I would have to say that Harry's place far outshines what is on display at Kew. (It was also quite amusing to listen to Harry complain about Kew not being as helpful and interested in material he has provided them in recent years compared to further in the past.) Paul knows all the details, but apparently Harry has been doing this ever since the construction of the M25 London Orbital (is that the correct name for the freeway loop that encircles London similar to the Beltway that encircles Washington, DC?) took half his land when he was a pig farmer. They paid him quite a bit for it and he set about collecting and growing just about every bulb imaginable as well as a number of other plant and tree species (such as 25-30 different species of Eucalyptus trees that are now quite tall and growing in the ground outside!). Harry seems to have corresponded with every famous and well-known plant personage the world over. As well as traded with them all. Anyway, I happened to take a few general pictures of his place as well as one of him and his wonderful wife. There is also a not very flattering, yet very candid shot of Paul Chapman and Harry showing what it's typically like visiting Harry in his gardens. Paul knows his age exactly, but I believe Harry is 80 years old or more and still runs around the entire acreage like he was in his 20s and knows every detail about every plant there. And if he likes you, he keeps digging up offsets or breaking off seedpods of truly unique species and handing them to you. So be sure to come prepared with your import permit in hand should you get this opportunity and want to take those treasures back with you to your home country. (He also liked the fact that I as an American still used and comprehended the good old English system of measurements instead of the French's metric system!) Anyway, Harry should be declared an international treasure himself, IMHO. The images are located on the wiki on the Places page under "Harry Hay's gardens" <http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/…>. --Lee Poulsen Pasadena area, California, USDA Zone 9-10 On Jan 18, 2004, at 3:51 AM, David Victor wrote: > Dear Alberto & Diane, > > Yes, Harry is the most amazing man with the most amazing garden. His > collection of bulbs is just mind blowing and had been built bit by bit > over many, many years. And he's still at it every day. Oh that I can > keep as enthusiastic when I'm his age! > > > Best regards, > David Victor