Snowbird gardening

Any Snowbirds out there who have wisdom & experience to share on letting go of your fragile plants when it is time to go north or south? Gardeners probably shouldn't be Snowbirds, but oh well! Some of us are! Any other Snowbird tips in general to share? Pet Friendly motel chain experiences coming and going? Other Snowbird chatter?

DonnieBrook ~ I would have trouble doing that so came south and stayed. That is an interesting subject tho. I might suggest you try posting this in the Southwest Gardening, Florida Gardening and also Texas Gardening forums. I think you will hear from some snowbirds. I will look forward to hearing others answers. pod

Thanks, Pod! I'll do that.........and I can understand why you stayed south.......it is really a challenge to garden and be a snowbird!

Ahhhh for me the challenge was staying warm... lol

Welll, now I have a plan to avoid throwing all the luggage out of the car in order to take all the plants from NH that I don't want to lose over the winter. I've decided to start rooting some cuttings of the plants that will do ok in zone 10 and then put them all together, wrapped in wet paper towels into a ziplock bag. I'll be able to add some water to keep them from drying out over the trip down. The bag with cuttings will take a lot less room in the car than plants in pots would. Does anyone have any experience to share on how you do this?

Sounds like you have it figured out. I have done that when flying and they survived fine... also in the vehicle. If you leave air in the ziplocks, the plants won't be crushed and every day or two, reopen and freshen the air. Good luck.

Get a small cooler for your cutting. Doesn't take up much room, they stay moist and have air. Easy to check and HOLDS ALOT!

Great idea, Grammy! I have just the thing for them. Now if I could just shrink down some of my gorgeous hanging baskets so they'd fit in a really small car filled to the brim with luggage, our dog and several cartons of stuff, I'd really be all set!!

The cooler is a great thought and will keep plants from being crushed too.

Yes....great protection from crushing AND from any heat that builds up in the car when we stop for breaks! Very good idea!

About the pet friendly lodging, I have found that most La Quinta Inns take pets at no extra charge.

Thanks for that feedback, Ardesia! We stayed at a La Quinta once on our last trip and it was a positive experience. We have made reservations at another one for one of the nights on our October trip south. I'm glad to hear that your experience has been a good one. We often stay at Comfort Inns as well. Some have been great and some not so great. Some limit their pet rooms to smoking rooms. I don't indicate that we are bringing our small dog until we check in. By reserving a non-smoking room, we have usually not had a problem. Now that we are building a list of the hotels on our route where we have had a good experience, we log the room we liked and ask for it the next time we reserve a room. The Comfort Inns generally charge $10.00 per pet per night, but some do not allow pets at all.

Oh, what a cutie with the pink blankie and stuffed toy. I know she (or he) is comfortable on the ride. :-))

Thanks, Ardesia.....I'll tell her...Her name is Molly...She is a 14-year old Bichon who thinks she is a human. :) I am her gardener and my husband is her butler. We adore her! She was a rescue and she has always been such a good girl, we think she is just plain appreciative.