• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary navigation
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Carol J. Michel

Award winner author of gardening humor books

  • About
    • Contact
  • Blog
  • Books
    • Shop
    • Gardening Humor
    • Children’s Books
    • New – The Halloween Hare
  • Social
    • YouTube
    • Instagram
  • The Gardenangelists Podcast
  • Gardening Humor
  • Children’s
  • All Books

May Dreams Gardens

Gardening Geek: Travel Edition

April 2, 2008 By Carol Michel 21 Comments

Spring is taking her sweet time this year, with the first daffodils finally blooming yesterday. But it is still cold and cloudy and rainy with no warm up in the forecast for the next several days. What better time is there to leave the garden, even for just a few days, to go someplace warmer, where spring is much further along?

Yes, it’s time for a little traveling, gardening geek style.

You might be a traveling gardening geek if…

You plan your vacation destinations based on what gardens are nearby. Bonus points if your primary vacation activity IS visiting gardens.

When you arrive in a new city, you look in the yellow pages to see if there are any interesting garden centers nearby. Bonus points if you looked online before you left home to read about those garden centers ahead of time.

As you are driving to your actual destination, you make an unexpected stop to see a garden because you didn’t realize you would be that close to it. Bonus points if it was 100 degrees in the shade on the day you toured the garden.

You pack a few extra plastic bags to put plant cuttings in for the return trip home. Bonus points if you actually brought home new plants.

When you visit a book store out of town, you first go to the gardening section. Bonus points if you bought yourself a new gardening book as a souvenir.

After a few days, your hotel room looks like a well-stocked conservatory with recently purchased plants in the window. Bonus points if some of those same plants could be bought at your neighborhood garden center, but you bought them out of town because they just looked better to you. Double bonus points if you asked for a hotel room with a south facing window because the light would be better for the plants.

You chose to drive instead of fly to your destination so you could bring back more plants. Bonus points if you always keep an extra bag or two and a little spade or trowel in the trunk of your car for digging up a plant, should one be offered to you when you visit a friend’s garden.

You are willing to fly to your destination, even though you hate flying, because the gardening event is too good to miss. Bonus points just for doing this one.

When you get home from your trip, it is another two days before you unpack because you are too busy getting caught up in the garden to bother with something like unpacking. Bonus points if you remembered to at least unpack any plants right away. (Thanks to MSS at Zanthan Gardens for this one, the inspiration for this post.)

When you arrive home from a trip at night, you go straight out to the garden with a flashlight to see what has grown since you left. Bonus points if you worked in the garden with flashlights and spotlights the first night home. Double bonus points if you have a hat with a spotlight built in that you use for night gardening.

When you get home from your trip and look at your pictures, all of them are of gardens. Bonus points if you at least asked your travel companions to be in some of the pictures, mostly so you could add something of known size to the picture so you could later recall the size of the plants around them.

You are NOT a gardening geek if you collected any plants, cuttings from plants, or seeds from the wild or from a public or private garden without permission. If you did that, you forfeit all regular points and do not get any bonus points. Turn your Felco pruners in at the exit on your way out of the garden geekdom.

Are you a traveling gardening geek?

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: gardening geek, humor

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Anonymous says

    April 2, 2008 at 1:17 pm

    You bet and I know I am in good company! LOL at this one Carol.

    Reply
  2. Anonymous says

    April 2, 2008 at 1:29 pm

    Hah! I love the de-throning at end of this post. People who take plants (or plant labels) from public gardens are SO uncool and definitely don’t deserve to call themselves geeks. (I might not have earned all of the bonus points but I’m proud to be a TGG in good company)

    Reply
  3. tina says

    April 2, 2008 at 1:45 pm

    definitely a travel garden geek. and i never return home without new plants and books.

    Reply
  4. Frances, says

    April 2, 2008 at 2:32 pm

    Absolutely! Thanks for the packing the plastic bags to bring stuff home idea. How will this work with the airlines new rules?

    Reply
  5. growingagardenindavis says

    April 2, 2008 at 3:02 pm

    You can take cuttings, divisions etc. on the plane in a bag…I’ve dug up things in my garden in the morning and planted them in my daughter’s garden later that day…no one’s even questioned me about them. As for photos…my other daughter travels a lot and now takes photos of gardens for me…so am I an armchair gardening geek?

    Reply
  6. Frances, says

    April 2, 2008 at 3:30 pm

    Leslie, thanks. Do you put them in the checked luggage or carry them on?
    Frances

    Reply
  7. Annie in Austin says

    April 2, 2008 at 3:32 pm

    Your post brought back memories of tenderly carting a liriope plant from NC to IL in July. Liriope seemed so exotic before I had 200 running feet of it.

    There’s a rooted piece of stapelia waiting for you in Austin, Carol the Garden Geek.

    Annie at the Transplantable Rose

    Reply
  8. growingagardenindavis says

    April 2, 2008 at 4:24 pm

    I’ve taken divisions as carry-on in a plastic bag inside a cloth shopping bag. Iris rhizomes have traveled in my suitcase also as carry-on. In case it makes a difference it’s always been Southwest.

    Reply
  9. Chrissy says

    April 2, 2008 at 7:20 pm

    Stumbled on your blog. Ill definitely come again. Lovely photo.

    Reply
  10. beckie says

    April 2, 2008 at 8:30 pm

    Oh Carol, great post..Again! Hope you all do take lots of pictures to share with those of us who aren’t going. I’d say have fun, but I already know you will.

    Reply
  11. Mr. McGregor's Daughter says

    April 2, 2008 at 8:46 pm

    I’ve never brought plants home from a vacation, but I think I qualify for this on the basis of my honeymoon alone. We went to the Lake District in Italy at the end of April. We spent most of our time visiting all the gardens there, so nearly all our photos are in gardens.

    Reply
  12. Lee17 says

    April 2, 2008 at 9:21 pm

    Ok, When I was a kid I would dig up plants from the woods behind my house and bring them home (like wild stawberries, johnny jump-ups, and various wildflowers)- I am so busted! I was just a kid – I didn’t know any better. Please forgive me! (Oh, the shame, the shame)I don’t do that anymore though. Now I just collect seeds and cuttings 😉

    Reply
  13. Carol Michel says

    April 2, 2008 at 10:15 pm

    Fellow Traveling Gardening Geeks, Thanks for the nice comments and the tips on taking home plants on airplanes!

    Carol, May Dreams Gardens

    Reply
  14. Lisa at Greenbow says

    April 3, 2008 at 1:57 am

    Yep, I am a TGG. I have brought Plant starts home in plastic bags. Sometimes in carry on but lots of times in the big suitcase. They are only in there for a day so they do ok. Kind of like air mailing them.

    Reply
  15. Robin (Bumblebee) says

    April 3, 2008 at 2:10 am

    I am quite sure I am a gardening geek. I’m looking forward to meeting a bunch more in Austin..If I can just clear off this spot on my desk first.

    Ugh.

    Robin at Bumblebee

    Reply
  16. Anonymous says

    April 3, 2008 at 3:50 am

    Oh yes. I laughed out loud at the bit about coming home in the dark and going straight to the garden with a flashlight to see what’s happened while I was gone. Yes, I scope out gardens to visit ahead of time. Yes, I buy gardening books while I’m there. I don’t usually bring plants home, but that’s only because I think of Austin’s climate as being too picky for most plants from other parts of the country.

    Can’t wait to meet all the traveling garden geeks this weekend.

    Reply
  17. Amy says

    April 3, 2008 at 4:16 am

    Ha ha! I’ve turned my traveling husband into a traveling garden geek. He goes all over the world on business trips and I’ve got him taking photos of plants and gardens just for me 🙂 Thankfully, he’s very obliging and enthusiatic about it all.

    Reply
  18. Unknown says

    April 3, 2008 at 4:23 am

    I garden-geeked out on a trip to Austin. Even considered stalking Felder Rushing’s house to see his truck vegetable crop!
    Looking forward to hanging with the rest of the geeks out there this weekend.

    Reply
  19. lisa says

    April 4, 2008 at 8:10 pm

    Heh…very funny post Carol! I don’t travel all that much, but I do carry a shovel and baggies at all times for any “emergency collecting”. And the night gardening…all the time. (I do actually plan to buy a hat light this year! 🙂

    Reply
  20. Monica the Garden Faerie says

    April 9, 2008 at 4:56 pm

    Um… you mean people actually travel for reasons OTHER THAN looking at gardens?! 😉

    I think another trait is that you’re actually reluctant to leave your own garden for fear of missing something bloom at home, as much as you love seeing other gardens! I tend to plan my travel around less exciting bloom times locally. It was major trauma when I had to leave a few days last May during my peak smoke tree bloom. (It’s small. It has been through trauma. It was its first years plume bloom!)

    ~ Monica

    Reply
  21. Anonymous says

    April 10, 2008 at 1:49 am

    I came across this post a few days ago, didn’t bookmark it, but it stuck with me. Finally, I found it again!

    I’ve just started gardening again after a hiatus that was partially brought on by (non-gardening related) frequent travel. I just wasn’t able to merge my interests and responsibilities at that time.

    But I’m back into it and am also planning a trip in the near future. So I’ve now got some items to add to my travel checklist. 😉

    Thanks.

    malisa

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Updates from Carol Michel

* indicates required
Email Preferences

Categories

  • Blog (3,053)
  • Internal (2)

Blog Tags

annuals Blogging books bulbs dr. hortfreud embrace fairies fall family flowers fruits garden bloggers bloom day garden bloggers book club garden design gardeners gardening gardening geek gardens hoes holidays hortense hoelove houseplants humor indoor gardening insects lawn letters to gardening friends perennials rabbits reviews Secrets seeds shrubs spring tools trees vegetable garden vegetable gardening vegetables weather weeding weeds when a gardener wildflower wednesday winter

The Gardenangelists Podcast with Dee Nash

Gardenangelists Podcast

Footer

Gardenangelists Podcast with Dee Nash

Gardenangelists Podcast

Connect

  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • maydreams icon

Quick Links

  • Home
  • Contact
  • Books
  • May Dreams Gardens
  • Podcast

Updates from Carol Michel

* indicates required
Email Preferences

Newsletter Archive

Copyright © 2023 · CarolJMichel.com · Sitemap · Privacy Policy

Book purchase links are affiliate links and Carol earns a small commission if you make a purchase.

We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
Do not sell my personal information.
Cookie SettingsAccept
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
CookieDurationDescription
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional11 monthsThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy11 monthsThe cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytics
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Advertisement
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
Others
Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
SAVE & ACCEPT