SLP is back from Atlanta for the annual conference and expo of the GWA: the Association of Garden Communicators, and we’re still trying to wrap our heads around it. We met so many wonderful people and reconnected with our authors and old friends! We also explored some beautiful public and private gardens… GWA really knows how to put on a shindig.

I’m going to let my pictures (and a few captions) tell our GWA 2016 story. But THANK YOU to everyone who stopped by our booth and said hello. A special thank-you to Kate Copsey and her dedicated team for putting the event together. It’s a tremendous job and only someone as tremendous as Kate could make it happen.

We found the roundtable topics and learning sessions to be both fun and informative. I’m really motivated by the things Kathy Jentz and GrowIt!’s Seth Reed and Mason Day had to say about social media. Thanks to all of the presenters! You’re inspiring garden writers and communicators to think outside the box and grow their businesses.

A special congrats to Slow Flowers and 50 Mile Bouquet author Debra Prinzing for her induction into the GWA Hall of Fame, as well as silver award winners Denise Schreiber (Eat Your Roses), Doug Oster (Steel City Garden) and Jessica Walliser (Good Bug Bad Bug)!

        
Kylee Baumle, C.L. Fornari and Brie Gluvna Arthur pose with their SLP book covers at our booth!

    
The Atlanta Botanical Garden was spectacular.
The Kendeda Canopy Walk, the Earth Goddess and the Dale Chihuly exhibit… possibly my favorite tour of the entire trip.

        
Loved all of the quirky details of the private gardens we toured.

    
Can I please LIVE in this sun room? So many garden arches to take pictures under. I also took a few garden mirror selfies, but won’t share those on the blog. 😛

   
On Sunday, GWA’ers dealt with a lot of rain. But the plants were happy so we were happy too! The walkway to the Gibbs Gardens gift shop was lined with so many beautiful combinations. Here we are enjoying cheese, crackers and booze at the Gibbs Gardens reception (Paul’s makeshift raincoat *might* be the next big thing in rainwear fashion).

The Atlanta History Center is home to 22 acres of beautiful gardens and trails. It’s also home to the Swan House, which featured an exhibit of southern style through the ages and was featured in a Hunger Games film. Gardens, history, fashion and movies, what more could you want?!

    
Cathy accepted Debra’s Hall of Fame award. Here she is accepting the award from Kirk Brown and Allan Armitage. Don’t we clean up nice?!

Did anyone walk over to the Centennial Olympic Park in Downtown Atlanta? It was a bit of a trek from the hotel, but definitely worth a visit!

I took 400+ pictures over 5 days, so these are just a few highlights. But thanks again to everyone in Atlanta! GWA is a wonderful organization filled with truly kind and special people. We <3 being friends and colleagues with garden communicators.

See yinz in Buffalo!

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