These past two years are all a blur to me. So many of you faithfully have written that I feel as though I owe you lots of explanations. Thank you for all your wonderful e-mails and letters. One of the most touching letters came from Michele Hayward Mariani, who purchased all my books for her beautiful and talented young daughter. It gave me great hope in the future to read about her daughter's passion for the natural world.

Workman Publishing sent me on a tour to promote my book Trowel & Error, and I worked on everything from tiny local radio and television programs clear up to Rockefeller Plaza, where I got to preach my gardening philosophy to millions on NBC's Today show.

Over a two month period, Jeff and I have traveled to over two dozen cities (Modesto; San Francsico; Napa; Portland, Oregon; Seattle; Saratoga, California; Los Angeles; Oklahoma City; Dallas; Austin; Fort Worth; Colonial Williamsburg; Los Angeles; Cheyenne; Odebolt, Iowa; The Sagamore in Bolton Landing, New York; Chicago; Detroit; Slayton Arboretum in Hillsdale, Michigan; Columbus, Ohio; Philadelphia; Landis Valley Museum in Lancaster, Pennsylvannia; Verona, New Jersey; and New York City) to lecture and for television and radio interviews.

One of my most memorable radio shows was "You Bet Your Garden" on WHYY with the knowledgeable and hilarious character Mike McGrath, former editor of Organic Gardening magazine. You can tune into that program, which is archived, by simply logging onto it here. (Choose the May 17th show.)

I remember one wild and stormy day in Chicago when I did five television programs in a row outdoors in a thunder and lightning storm with Janet Davies on ABC 7 . In Portland , Oregon (what a fabulous garden city), we filmed in a cold and windy open greenhouse, but we had a ball doing several segments for "Good Day Lifestyles" on KPTV-TV with host Mallory Gwynn and co-host/producer Jeff Gustin.

From Larimie, Wyoming, I recorded a wonderful radio program for Wisconsin Public Radio's "To The Best of Our Knowledge," hosted by Anne Strainchamps and distributed by Public Radio International. It was beautifully and sensitively produced, and you can tune into them by clicking here.

One of my favorite stops along the tour was at the home and gardens of our dear friends Jack and Jane Hogue (I have written of them in some of my books), owners of Prairie Pedlar. They tend gardens in Odebolt, Iowa, and they have a gigantic, old barn, which is both a gift shop and an area for drying their beautiful crops of flowers and herbs. Jane and Jack's playhouse and gardens were featured on the first cover of Country Living GARDENER magazine twelve years ago. Their gardens, though beautiful then, just keep getting bigger and better through the years. Check your magazine stand for Garden Shed (Meredith Publishing) for a peek at the new gardens and their corncrib turned "garden folly."

While we were in Odebolt, Jane and Jack hosted a talk, which I gave in their newly restored historical schoolhouse. The old school was packed with familiar and unfamiliar faces, some of whom had driven for hundreds of miles to attend the event. What a treat to work in the heart of America.

Other memorable visits during the past two years include a short stay, lecture, and radio show in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Shane Smith (author of The Greenhouse Gardener's Companion (Fulcrum)­an indispensable book), director of the Cheyenne Botanic Gardens, hosted us and held the event, and it was a huge success. We loved seeing Shane's working solar greenhouse and the gardens he has developed through the years. Surely his work and the gardens of Cheyenne could serve as a model for many cities.

Wow! Tulsa made me feel like the proverbial Queen-for-a-Day. I can't remember ever being so in tune with a group of like-minded souls as I did in Tulsa. We stayed with our new friends Tom and Sue Stees and enjoyed sharing a wonderful time with them. They made us feel like family. The Tulsa Herb Society went all out for my two presentations and decorated the auditorium with small vignettes that were modeled after my books. Each vignette was creative and beautiful and showed how a group of dedicated herb lovers and gardeners can work together as a creative force. I will always feel like Tulsa is one of my true "homes."

We had an unforgettable visit with Mike and Jean Shoup and their circle of family and friends at the Antique Rose Emporium, their world famous nursery, shop, and display gardens. We were fortunate to be lodged with Mike's parents, Mike Sr. and Nancy, who spoiled us in every way possible. A highlight of our stay with them was being lodged in our own tiny "Sunday House," right next to a pond. I never had known such a house existed until Nancy explained the origin of the term. When country ranchers traveled into town for supplies (in Texas that can be a long trip), they often couldn't make the long trip back to their ranches in one day. So that they didn't miss their Sunday church service, they would often build a miniature house for their short overnight stays.

Although it was November when we arrived at the Emporium, there were still many varieties of roses in full bloom.The antique buildings scattered throughout the Emporium's grounds are exquisitely restored and surrounded by acres of old-fashioned gardens with the rose, of course, taking center stage.I especially loved the children's garden, which was always the center of activity for both children and grown-ups.

I gave my slide and demo lecture in a large church, which was packed to capacity with rose and garden lovers from as far away as Louisiana and Oklahoma. Some of the attendees make a special point of attending the festivities every year, and after experiencing everything going on there, I can understand why!

The Shoups have gone beyond what is necessary to maintain a nursery and display garden, they have created one of the jewels of the gardening world ,and it is there for everyone to enjoy. Visit them soon.

The Antique Rose Emporium catalog is so well done it could be a fine gardening book. It is filled with scores of great color photographs and information for the cultivation of roses. I love this catalog! To get your own copy or to speak to someone at the Emporium call (800) 441-0002.

Antique Rose Emporium
10,000 Highway 50
Independence, Texas 77833
(979) 836-5548
Monday through Saturday 9 to 5:30. Sunday 11:30 to 5:30.
Directions: Ten miles Northeast of Brehanm at 10,000 Highway 50, which is a quarter mile south of the intersection of FM 390 and Highway 50.

Georgia Display Gardens of the Antique Rose Emporium
5565 Cavender Creek Road
Dahlonega, Georgia 30533
Monday through Saturday 10 to 5:30. Sunday 12:30- to 5:30.
(706) 864-5884
Directions: Eight and a half miles north to the end of Long Branch Road. Turn right on Cavender Creek Road and go a half mile.

San Antonio, Texas Display Gardens
7561 A. East Evans Road
San Antonio, Texas 78266-2823
(210) 651-4565
Monday through Saturday 9 to 5:30. Sunday 11:00 to 5:30.
Directions: Located north of Loop 1604 (behind Rolling Oaks Mall) on East Evans Road one mile west of the intersection of Nacogdoches and Evans.