Travels Here and There

It has been a very busy past few weeks and I'm ready to be home for a while. From Sept. 28 through Oct. 2 I was in Oklahoma City for the Garden Writers Association Symposium. The occasion of winning a 2007 Silver Garden Media Award (pictured above) was marked by fellowship with fellow plant fanatics and talented scribblers from across the globe. Our tours took us to some fine gardens in the area as well as culturally significant sites like the OKC Federal Building Memorial and the National Cowboy and Western Museum.

As if a glutton for traveler's punishment, I returned yesterday from another weekend getaway with the ISU Horticulture Club to St. Louis, MO. Blistering heat accompanied our visit to the Missouri Botanic Garden and other culturally interesting sites in the area.

From here to there, my appetitive mind has found some time to wander to thoughts of landscape design, ecology, plant usage, and the human spirit of horticulture; otherwise known as the usual table fare. In the next few autumnal weeks of our gardening season I'll share these with you. We truly live in a great world filled with rigorous, yet fulfilling challenges. The realm of horticulture shall not be excluded! Here are a few tidbits to whet your reader's appetite:

Gardening with Generation X/Y
Landscaping with ecological goodness
The autumnal garden
Ornamental grasses