I finally watched the Christmas movie, The Polar Express, and my thoughts turned to gardening, as they always do.

Actually, my thoughts first turned to other trains that were named “Express”, then I thought of gardening.

I thought of the Hogwarts Express, which takes the young wizards and witches in the Harry Potter books to and from London and Hogsmeade, where they go to school in Hogwarts Castle. 

I also thought of the Orient Express, a real train that took travelers from Paris to Istanbul, with presumably stops in between. Agatha Christie used this train as the setting for one of her murder mysteries, Murder on the Orient Express.

I thought about how, whether fictional or real, these trains took their passengers on great adventures, which surely changed their lives. 

And then after I thought all of these thoughts, I thought that it would be nice to have a train for gardeners that could take us on some kind of magical ride. Since it is my fictional train, I’m going to call it the May Dreams Express.

All aboard the May Dreams Express.  

Please take your seat and present your ticket to the conductor who, by golly, looks a lot like a gardener himself.  If you don’t mind, leave the windows closed. The garden fairies tend to get sucked out open windows and no one wants that to happen.

Would you like some treats from the trolley car?  No need to bring your own food, we’ve got fresh fruits and vegetables grown on the train – the garden is on the third car from the caboose, if you are interested. While you are snacking, feel free to browse through the seed catalogs and gardening magazines tucked in the back pocket of the seat in front of you. You’ll find that any plant listed that you want will grow perfectly in your garden back home, if you ever get back home after your ride on the May Dreams Express.

If you are tired of sitting and would like to get up and stretch your legs a bit, go on back toward the caboose where you will find the world’s only railway car conservatory.  We’ve taken great care in filling it with the plants and flowers that you love, and there is always something nice in bloom.

What’s our destination?  Gardens, of course.  The May Dreams Express will take you to gardens around the world. When the train stops and the doors open, you’ll be in whatever garden you’ve dreamed of seeing.  And you’ll be seeing that garden at its very peak of perfection. 

Watch your step as you exit the train to see the gardens and please watch the time. You’ll have plenty of time to see every garden, we promise. But remember that our train likes to leave on time and there are many gardens and plants to see, so you don’t want to be late.

What? Violet Sweetpea Maydreams is missing from the train? I could have sworn I saw her get on at the first stop.  I guessed this might happen. Now it looks like we also have a mystery to add to our fun on the May Dreams Express.

No one move until Hortcule Poirot has a chance to look for clues.

All Aboard!  Don’t miss this ride. Who knows where we will end up?