Readers Respond: You Know You're a Gardener When...

Responses: 112

By Marie Iannotti, About.com Guide

Truly enjoyed reading these responses, and every single one of them is true! I complain about getting up for work, then on the weekends get up 2 hours earlier to get a "good start" in the garden before breakfast.
—Guest Colleen

You get upset when you see uncared for plants in stores and you can't resist deadheading them and making them look nice.
—Guest perkysmom

You excitedly show your husband that your new rose catalogs have arrived and he says that's like giving free drugs to a junkie. When you're afraid to go half way across the country to see your son because your husband will forget to water your garden.
—Guest kathyb

you know you're a gardener when u get a job at the local garden center just for the discount =)
—Guest drea

You know you are a gardener when you get excited about buying bags of chicken manure and milorganite which stink like "you know what". I take great delight in filling my wheel barrow full of this stuff and just broadcasting in into my garden, I do wear gloves. I love the smell and love knowing that is is making my garden so happy and healthy. I always feel so wealthy when I have a suruplus of 6 or so bags just sitting there waiting to go into the garden.
—Guest gardener413

My FJ Cruiser can be swept out - no carpet - unlike my husband's lovely Highlander. I told the salesman mine had to carry plants and bags of soil and manure.
—Guest crnickers@yahoo.com

Early spring you only pull babies that you know for sure are weeds and leave the ones you're unsure of. After all, they might be volunteers that will turn into amazing new flowers.
—Guest MickieC

You know you're a gardener when. . .you go out at 3:30 one morning (with jeans and a t-shirt pulled over your nightgown) to set houseplants out on the sidewalk because you woke up and heard it raining gently.
—showmedonna

You know you're a gardener when. . . . you have the old van or the 'Gator out at night - or BOTH for heaven's sake, in the dark, with their headlights on, pointed at your latest garden project which desperately needs finishing. and the local mechanic finds sunflowers sprouted and growing under the plastic mat of your old '92 van, which you keep (and repair as needed) as a garden shed on wheels - even after the school bus accidentally knocks the glass out of the rear window and ruins the back gate.
—showmedonna

While in the middle of receiving a massage you received as a gift, your wondering how many plants you could be buying with this $50 instead!
—Guest jgkohli

you realized that your dog was depressed and refused to eat her doggie ice cream because you spent more time with your plants than with her.
—yrcheng

http://urbanoasisgardening.blogspot.com/2008/03/12-signs-your-garden-hoe.html [Note from Marie: Don't be afraid to check out the link, this is very clever.]
—Guest Sandra Nelson

Your husband comes in from the mailbox, saying, "Your Veggie Porn is here," when my spring seed catalogs arrive!
—Guest Knitcat

you move from upstate ny from the cold clay soil, then complain about the sandy soil and heat-killing climate. And you plant the same plant that didn't survive the season last year, but relocate 2 inches to the left. less sun.
—Guest floridafauna

Marie Iannotti
Gardening Guide