You Might Be a Plant Nerd: Signs You're Obsessed with Plants

Since you're visiting Dave's Garden, there's a very good chance you like plants. But have you ever felt your fondness for greenery goes above and beyond the average? Do you have an obsession that most consider a bit abnormal—maybe even unhealthy? Do you think about plants all the time? Find it impossible to pass up a plant sale? Understand the botanical Latin in the purple box to the right? Don't look now, but you might be a plant nerd.

Classic Signs of a Plant Nerd

Plant nerds do and think things the rest of the world finds odd. Here are a few telltale examples:

• You know the scientific names of your weeds.
• Your dream house is a greenhouse.
• You've named pets after plants—and would name your children after them if your spouse allowed it.
• You missed your nephew's christening because it conflicted with an exotic plant sale.
• You've wondered why the Toronto Maple Leafs are the only pro team named after a plant. Why not the Portland Poison Oak or the Denver Ponderosas?

San Diego Wild Vegetable Animal Park

• You tell the travel agent you don't care about beach quality; you want to know about botanic gardens and nurseries.
• You go to the zoo to see the plants.
• You didn't catch any fish, but the trip was a success because you spotted five plant species you'd never seen before.
• You thought smartphones were a frivolous luxury—until you heard about the rare plant locator app.
• You've stood in line for four hours at a botanic garden to see the Amorphophallus flower.
• Your dream vacation is an African safari—plant safari, that is.
• The "swimsuit issue" is fine, but seed catalogs are the real February eye candy.

Taraxacum officinale, but you knew that

• You can't remember where you put your birth certificate, but you recall within a few yards where you saw yellow ladyslippers on the trail back in 1978.
• An associate mentions going to Namibia to see Welwitschia. Everyone else stares blankly, but you're insanely jealous.
• You've told a complete stranger that the ivy at Wrigley Field isn't true ivy—it's a grape relative.
• Your computer passwords are scientific plant names.*
• You've stopped on the highway ("Emergency stopping only") to photograph an interesting plant.
• You know the difference between cacti and cactuses.
• If you came into extra money, you'd buy a parking lot and turn it into a meadow.

Wrigley Field

• You took more pictures of Grand Canyon flora than of the canyon itself.
• You've had dreams where the main subject was a plant.
• You've taken a vacation day to see local wildflowers or a plant show on a weekday when crowds are smaller.
• You'd drive 100 miles out of your way to see a plant you'd never seen before.

The most telling sign of all? If you relate to this list and have thought of your own additions, you're a plant nerd. Chances are you've suspected it all along and even glory in it. We think it's great, too. Welcome to the brotherhood and sisterhood of Dave's Garden, where plant nerds—and the not-so-nerdy—from around the world chat, swap ideas, experiences, and sometimes even plants.

* Don't do that. For security reasons, it's not recommended to use words associated with your hobbies as passwords.