What has a 10-year growing season? Floriade 1992, the World Horticultural Exhibition held in Holland once every decade - with exhibitors from all over the world and hundreds of acres of flowers, bulbs, trees, plants, vegetables and fruits. The blooming giant, opening April 10 and running through Oct. 11 in Zoetermeer (just outside the Hague), will draw professional and amateur gardeners of all varieties. Pavilions, greenhouses, formal and historic gardens and other exhibits address seven themes, including energy and the environment. Advance tickets can be purchased for $12 each (plus $3 postage and handling per order) from the Netherlands Board of Tourism, 225 N. Michigan Ave., Suite 326, Chicago, Ill. 60601, (312) 819-0300.
Or make a vacation of it with an extended tour. Travel Time, for example, has nine-day tours to Floriade and the other flowers of Holland - museums, palaces and villages - led by art historians, leaving twice weekly. The cost is $1,895 per person, excluding air fare. For more information, call (800) 621-4725.-0
Simple Weekend
There'll be a whole lot of Shaker goin' on at the Vermont State Craft Center at Frog Hollow's Shaker Conference, March 6-8. That's when those interested in the Shakers and their handiwork can learn how the group's elegantly simple designs reflected their spiritual beliefs, and how to reproduce that purity of design in furniture-making and crafts workshops. The center sponsors afternoon lectures Friday, for which tickets are $75, including a traditional Shaker dinner. Three workshops are offered Saturday and Sunday, with costs ranging from $75 to $230, depending on materials. For more information, contact the Vermont State Craft Center, Frog Hollow, Middlebury, Vt. 05753, (802) 388-3177.
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Re-Taking the Pacific
Veterans will be reprising their roles in the Pacific War Theater this 50th-anniversary year. Those who fought there, and those who didn't, can relive the experience with AeroTours International, which offers weekly tours to Pacific War sites. The basic tour is a 23-day campaign in Fiji, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu (home of the Allied Seventh Fleet) and Australia, but there are also shorter tours to Guadalcanal (a cruise), Papua New Guinea, the Philippines and Darwin, Australia. The cost for the 23-day tour ranges from $4,206 to $4,645 (through February of '93), including air fare from Los Angeles or San Francisco, based on double occupancy. Custom tours and diving trips to view the many war wrecks can also be arranged. For a brochure, call (800) 223-4555.
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Anglophile Alert
For once you might enjoy being lectured to - at the Royal Oak Foundation Lectures, most Wednesday evenings from now through May 6, in New York City. The foundation - the "American Friends" of the English National Trust - sponsors the lecture series at the Grolier Club (47 E. 60th St.) at 6 p.m. A variety of English and American experts address such topics as "Life Below Stairs in the English Country House" (April 15) and "English Garden Style" (April 22), or spotlight architecture, interior design, antiques and other matters of interest to Anglophiles.
Can't make it to New York? Occasional lectures are given elsewhere.
The foundation also sponsors trips to England, and members get other bennies as well-including a quarterly newsletter, National Trust publications and free entry to all National Trust properties in Britain. Information: Royal Oak Foundation, 285 W. Broadway, Suite 400, New York, N.Y. 10013, (212) 966-6565.
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FREE FOR THE ASKING
As if you need any more excuses to take a powder and go skiing, along come the folks at Ski New England with a few more. "How to Love Winter in the Worst Way: The Alpine Skier's Guide to Conquering the Elements" argues that skiing can be invigorating without sunny skies and fresh powder - in rain and wind and even fog - if you're prepared. The brochure offers sensible advice on how to dress for a variety of conditions, from cold temperatures to freezing rain. For a free copy, write to Ski New England, P.O. Box 800, Campton, N.H. 03223.