It seems that everyone is sending text messages and using online chat these days, even gardeners.
You might be a gardening geek when it comes to texting and online chatting if…
When you arrive at a garden center and find that the plants are on sale, you immediately text to your gardening geek pals, POS at the GC!
You automatically figured out that GC stands for “garden center”.
You text BRB WTP if you are leaving a chat session to “water the plants”.
If someone texts you with WITP, you look for the picture that goes with it because you know they are asking “what is this plant”. Bonus points if you also know that PID is short for “plant id” and should also be accompanied with a picture of the mystery plant.
You know that BNP means “botanical name please”. Bonus points if you are frustrated that you can’t easily italicize the botanical names when you text them to others. Double bonus points if you remembered that botanical names should always be italicized.
You text MOS when you find out that the mulch is also on sale at the GC.
You know that anything that ends with IB means something is “in bloom”, such as AIB for azaleas in bloom, BIB for Brunnera in bloom, CIB for crocus in bloom, DIB for daffodil in bloom, EIB for Echinacea in bloom, FIB for flowers in bloom, GIB for glads in bloom, HIB for Hibiscus in bloom, IIB for Iris in Bloom, JIB for Jasmine in bloom, KIB for Kalimeris in bloom, LIB for lavender in bloom, MIB for Monarda in bloom, NIB for Narcissus in bloom, OIB for ox-eye daisy in bloom, PIB for peas in bloom, QIB for Queen of the night in bloom, RIB for roses in bloom, SIB for strawberries in bloom, TIB for tomatoes in bloom, UIB for umbrella palm in bloom, VIB for violets in bloom, WIB for wallflowers in bloom, XIB for 10 flowers in bloom, YIB for yarrow in bloom, and ZIB for zinnias in bloom. Bonus points if you read that entire list.
You often text O–> which is meant to be a virtual flower. Or if you prefer <–O
When you text LOL, it often means “lots of leaves” instead of “laugh out loud”. Bonus points if you know that BYOH means “bring your own hoe“.
You can immediately figure out that S4S means “seeds for sale” and P4S means “plants for sale”.
You text MTL when you are going to mow the lawn. Bonus points if you have a “no texting while mowing” rule around your garden.
Finally, you might be a gardening geek when it comes to texting and online chatting if you get a text of WMN from a mysterious source and realize it is from a plant in your sunroom demanding “water me now’.
Ok THAT is too funny!!
Self-proclaimed GG (gardening geek) here and GBG (garden blogging geek) too. I just love to DITD (dig in the dirt)! VC and VF! (very clever and very funny) 🙂
Oh, Carol, your blog post are the best antidote for a long hard day! Thanks for making me laugh once again. (And I read the whole list IB list!)
I'm going to have to bookmark this post, in case I need to translate a text from a gardening friend.
Dear Carol, This is very good info for the gardening geeks to know, if they don't already. But only a select few would be getting texts from the plants in the sunroom! Now that is an online household! 🙂
Frances
I'm so glad you think like this.~~Dee
That is so funny! Thanks for the laugh. I will have to train my plants to text from the shed! Tips please!
So much of our rural area does not get cell service that I have not yet learned to text. Don't have the equipment for it. But you certainly make it sound like a valuable resource. Someday maybe we'll get it.
Dear Carol, wagr~xxoog
Very funny Carol,
I must confess that I have done my best to avoid texting. My kids and wife use it frequently. Now that I have some of your shortcuts I'll give it a try. 🙂 Oh and a beautiful collection of Xmas cards too……
Rees
Well, I'm definitely some sort of gardening freak, I believe in fairies but so far we aren't geeky enough here to have a cell phone capable of texting.
This still made me laugh, though.
OK. What was that text you sent me the other day and I had not a clue what it meant? I didn't see that posted…
Sooo funny–I laughed while reading the whole alphabet!!