You might be a real gardener if . . . 

Gardeners are calm, everyday people who clean up well and won’t generally embarrass you in public. They seem quiet, salt-of-the-earth sort of folks. But, beware…gardeners can be a little eccentric at times. Who else gets excited about a load of manure or a new seed catalog in the mail!  Perhaps you are a “real” gardener or live with one. See if you can identify with these universal traits of “real” gardeners…

You might be a real gardener if:

You cannot resist buying every new plant that comes on the market.

You know what USDA Hardiness Zone you live in. 

You have at least ten sets of gardening gloves, all with holes in the index finger.

The first day of spring is your New Year’s Day.

 You get excited when it rains and collect this precious commodity in multiple rain barrels.

Anything that holds water is viewed as a potential container for plants.

You have pots, pots and more pots!

You collect gnomes, pink flamingoes and other tacky, whimsical garden junk.

You feed the birds, plant for butterflies and care about bees.

You can lead a lively debate on the best methods to deter deer from the garden.

The smell of fresh compost is your favorite perfume. 

Worms in the soil are a cause of celebration.

You can’t resist going through a garden gate even if you are trespassing!

You lust for a greenhouse.

You worry about the environment, the effect of pesticides on water quality and the decline of the Monarch butterfly. 

You ask for a tiller or a new pruner for Christmas.

You grow tomatoes and more tomatoes and bring them to your friends at church.

You hurry to the mailbox each January to see if any new seed catalogs have arrived.

You have a garden bench but rarely take the time to sit on it because you keep seeing things that need to be done in the garden.

You have more yard clothes in your closet than church clothes.

You know what Mycorrhizal fungi are and that they are a good thing!

You have spilled potting soil in the trunk of your car… always. 

Your yard looks better than the inside of your house. Well you are never in the house!

You never get a manicure. Why waste the money?

You wake up in the middle of the night in the winter, check the temperature and go outside to cover a favorite plant if the temperature falls below freezing.

You hang drying herbs from the dining room chandelier.

You know the Latin names for all your plants. 

You own a truck.

You actually know how to prune a rose and when to prune an azalea.

You have a plot at the community garden.

You are considered the gardening expert in your neighborhood.

On vacation, you visit botanical gardens and plant nurseries.

Staff at the local plant nursery know you by name.

You swap cuttings with your friends.

You plan vacations around the harvest.

Spiders and snakes don’t bother you at all.

You go outside many mornings in your bathrobe and gardening clogs to check on what is going on in the garden.

You pull weeds in other people’s gardens.

You have a lot of scratches, bruises, pricks and blisters, but don’t care.

You worry about your plants when you are away on vacation.

You save banana peels, coffee grinds and vegetable scraps for the compost pile.

You ask for other people’s coffee grinds and vegetable scraps as well!

You hold a memorial service for a beloved plant that dies.

You keep a small pair of pruners in your pocket always and have been known to snip just a small piece from a plant you covet at a botanical garden.

You have a fairy garden filled with miniature people, plants and structures.

You like to leave an outside space prettier than you found it.

Does this sound like you or someone you know?  Take time to hug the “real” gardener in your life. They are helping to make our planet a healthier, more beautiful place to live.