The 2006 Western Winter Study Weekend will be held in Victoria, British Columbia, the first weekend in March. We are currently in the process of inviting overseas speakers, and have none confirmed yet. Talks will begin Friday evening and end Sunday at noon. Garden visits will probably be before, between and after the lectures. Registration for the lectures is approximately a hundred dollars, and additional costs for hotel and meals will vary,depending upon the level of luxury one desires. There will be no secret about getting the information. As soon as we have speakers confirmed, I will develop a website and publicize the url on various garden lists, like this one. Snowdrop collectors in the Victoria area are looking forward to a visit by Mark, since he mentioned he was starting to save up for a visit. We won't be having a snowdrop talk this time, as we had one in 2001, by John Grimshaw, one of the authors of the snowdrop book, but we can have informal discussions and visits to areas where snowdrops have proliferated for the past century. Sometimes overseas visitors are able to spend enough time here to visit wildflower areas with local botanists, and to travel to different areas of SW Canada and NW U.S.A. Everyone is delighted to meet visitors and show off local flowers. -- Diane Whitehead Victoria, British Columbia, Canada maritime zone 8 cool mediterranean climate (dry summer, rainy winter - 68 cm annually) sandy soil