Originally founded as a 'learned society', the Royal Horticultural Society is now the UK's leading gardening charity, committed to 'advancing excellence in horticulture and promoting gardening'. To mark the 200^th birthday of the world's oldest and most respected gardening organisation, 2004 has been designated The Year of Gardening. For once, this is no advertising gimmick, but rather a celebration designed to include gardeners of all ages and abilities. More than 100 museums, gardening organisations and community groups around the country are joining in, from Scotland to Cornwall and everywhere in between. The theme of gardens has inspired a host of intriguing exhibitions. Explore the history of the rose in Dorset at the Red House Museum and Garden in Christchurch. In Scotland, plant collector George Forrest is in the spotlight at the Timespan Heritage Centre in the Highlands. Since one of those seven 'founder friends' was John Wedgwood, it is appropriate that the Wedgwood Visitor Centre in Stoke-on-Trent is mounting A Passion for Flowers. This exhibition is a rare chance to see china from the Wedgwood archives as well as the RHS collection. Pride of place will be given to the original Minute Book from that first meeting in Hatchards. But for something completely different, head for Wales to see how to 'make flowers from scrap' at Llangollen Motor Museum in Clwyd.

There will be special displays at major national events such as the RHS Flower Shows at Chelsea (May 25-28), Hampton Court Palace (July 6-11) and Tatton Park (July 21- 25). More specialist events included a talk entitled, Everyone can Grow Fruit (London, October 6), and a series of evening lectures called The World in Our Gardens - Two Centuries of Plant Introductions. Each of these explains how the flowers and shrubs that we take for granted in Europe were brought here from Asia and the Americas (London, dates throughout the year). For stamp collectors, the Post Office will issue a set of commemorative stamps in May to mark the anniversary.

But there is nothing gardeners like more than checking out what their fellow green fingers are up to. On June 26, a wide range of contemporary gardens all over the UK will open their gates for the first-ever Modern Gardens Open Day. The 200 include 'town and country, public and private, roof and ravine, large and small, expensive and low-cost.' Also in June, The Art of the Garden begins at Tate Britain (June 3-August 30). This three month-long exhibit features works inspired by the British love of gardens and plants, from John Constable's 1815 painting of his father's flower and kitchen garden in Suffolk, through John Singer Sargent's Carnation, Lily, Lily Rose (1886) to Patrick Heron's 1956 Azalea Garden (www.tate.org.uk).

The RHS Lindley Library (80 Vincent Square, London SW1), the world's greatest gardening library, will hold a number of exhibitions worth checking out including Mediterranean plants in Britain (May 17-29) and an exclusive exhibition of Mary Cicely Barker Flower Fairies artworks (Sept. 14-Oct. 30). And wherever you are going, just tap in the relevant postcode to get driving directions, right here on the ViaMichelin website.