Introduction:2nd International Czech Rock Garden Conference - 2-5 May 2013

[ChrisB]

I'm going shopping for some kitchen roll & soap powder when I get to Tabor, Angie - a bit of handwashing is no problem compared to how I can pack my plants into the suitcase.  There will certainly be no room for souvenirs, I shall have to restrain myself.  Taking plastic bags with me.  Must check on the cost of excess with the airline, might be a cheaper option to have one extra suitcase on the return flight 

[Ulla Hansson]

It might be cheaper to pack a box and send it in the mail.
My sister and I will go by car, the car is not decided yet. It leans towards my younger son's car, then it goes to pack a lot in. It will be a long journey.

[David Nicholson]

............Plants or..................

Thought I'd mis-read that Angie but then I saw you had an "l" in it

[Jiri Papousek]

For all going to transport plants I have some good news. We have agreed already with hotel Academic, that there will be one place for participants equipped for plants preparation before journey. Also I can arrange transport for you with TNT Express on special rate I will negotiate for Conference, as I am employed there for last 17 years..... So you would just leave the boxes in the hotel and I would arrange the rest. There is transit time guarantee and shipments can be tracked on internet.

[angie]

For all going to transport plants I have some good news. We have agreed already with hotel Academic, that there will be one place for participants equipped for plants preparation before journey. Also I can arrange transport for you with TNT Express on special rate I will negotiate for Conference, as I am employed there for last 17 years..... So you would just leave the boxes in the hotel and I would arrange the rest. There is transit time guarantee and shipments can be tracked on internet.

Well what more could we ask for  .

David your brain for sure is working 100%  are you going to the conference. I hope so anyway.

Angie 

[Diane Whitehead]

We have agreed already with hotel Academic, that there will be one place for participants equipped for plants preparation before journey.

Including bare-rooting and washing for those of us from overseas?

Diane

[David Nicholson]

David your brain for sure is working 100%  are you going to the conference. I hope so anyway.

Regretfully not Angie

[ChrisB]

Jiri, I'm amazed at what you are doing to accommodate our addiction to plants.... I'm saving up for it....

And just to let you know, the money transfer was confirmed by the Tabor Hotel last night, so all is well.  I've never done a money transfer like that before but it worked perfectly! 

[Susann]

My way of transportating the alpines ( harder with the conifers of course) is  like this: I bring some empty shoe boxes in the suitcase and then I just bare-root the plants and wrap moist toilet paper around the roots and then a thight layer of cling film around the roots, not the green part. And then I just pack the plants tightly in the shoe boxes. It is easy, clean and lightweight. The label is kept to its plant´s roots by the cling film.

One time, when I was going to be away for another week in Sweden before reaching home I had prepared the car with empty pots ( bigger size than normal) and a bag of substrate. On arrival I spent some hours in the darkness outside of the youth hostel repotting the plants, as many as possible in every pot. It worked fine, they all survived the trip ( Except some Phloxes I was not expecting to be able to handle anyway)

And as Chris said, it is not necessary to bring that much clothes. I promise you I will not complain if I see you in the same dresses more than one time! And I am sure it will be possible to attach a lace in the bathroom to dry the clothes. Also,  as it is very luxuary hotels I am sure there are towel driers as well that one can use to tend the clothes. (Sea to summit has a lightweight lace with a kind of loops so you will not need pins.)

Cling film is called  Potravinova folia" in Czech. You find it in all bigger grocery stores and in special plastic stores.

Another tip is to bring-if you use it in your countries- the paper bags used for plants. At the market there are only very thin plastic bags so the pots keep falling over each other. If you bring a higher paper bag you can use a piece of cardbord to construct a shelf, bending its ends to supportive legs higher than the alpines in the bottom floor. Usually it is possible to create three floors in one big paperbag or the woven plastic bags that usually are sold in supermarkets ( In Sweden at least)

This is only part of my treasures last time in Prague. The bigger part was stored on the floor. The nice cleaning woman was very worried about how it would fit in my suitcase.

[ChrisB]

That's all very sensible Susann if you are traveling by car, but we have to fly over, so we cannot do quite what you do, there is a limit of 22lb for my luggage on the flight.  So Jiri's suggestion of shipping the plants over is like music to my ears!

[Susann]

if you are traveling by car, but we have to fly over, so we cannot do quite what you do

Please do not misunderstand me, I think it is a very kind offer of Jiri to do all this extra work for us. I really appreciate it.

But still, I am afraid you missunderstod me a little bit, Chris. I do travel by air, and I have been able to bring back LOTS of alpines this way only travelling with cabin luggage. ( 22 lb) However,  I will admit I have had to put on a little extra clothing on the way back. Really, when bare rot the plants does not weight almost anything. And tightly packed in a shoebox the do all right, as they can not move around.

Now I am getting a little worried. Please, you are not going to empty the market and coldframes for us? Perhaps we should ask the Czechs to put a limit of shopping for the Scots ladies?

[angie]

Now I am getting a little worried. Please, you are not going to empty the market and coldframes for us? Perhaps we should ask the Czechs to put a limit of shopping for the Scots ladies?

Susann Scots are very generous and not greedy folks but a limit on shopping  CHOCOLATE, PLANTS well I am not sure 

Folks please take note if you see me wearing the same top all week there is a reason, as someone said in a previous post we need space. I do have friends that rent containers, we could fill it with all the plants our hearts desire and then we could fill the rest up with all that lovely stone.
Cant wait, piggy bank is on the kitchen worktop, hope hubby has been filling it with all his spare change, why do men always have their pockets full of change.

Angie 

[KenC]

Unfortunately I am not attending the conference being discussed in this thread but I wanted to relay an experience my wife and I had transporting plants.  We had traveled to Oregon and planned ahead to visit Rick Lupp’s wonderful Mt Tahoma Nursery.  I had taken an extra suitcase to bring back as many plants as possible.  When we got back at the hotel I carefully wrapped each pot in aluminum foil, twisting the top and bottom so as to keep everything in place and not allow any soil to spill out.  These were all neatly stacked in rows and completely filed the case.  It was not until my wife and I had been pulled out of the security line, restrained and being questioned, had I considered how the contents might appear when being x-rayed.  When I tried to open the case to show them that they were only garden plant I was told to step away from the bag.  More officers were called over and eventually one of them unzipped and then opened the bag.  Audible gasps were heard from people in the security line and everyone took a step back from our case.  I smiled and explained (in a way I’m sure they teach in terrorist training camps) again that they were just garden plants.  They then gingerly went over the foil wrapped contents with a device that detects chemicals used in explosive devices and wouldn’t you know it came up positive!  At this point my wife was starring at the floor and shaking her head, exclaiming that I was an idiot.  This certainly seemed true.  Eventually a brave officer or perhaps the one with the least amount of seniority stepped forward and opened one foil pack and then another until all was exposed including the fertilizer pellets that had been detected by the sensing device.  We were finally sent on our way and told to NEVER wrap anything in metal foil and try to take it on a plane.  This now seems perfectly reasonable.

[Michael J Campbell]

why do men always have their pockets full of change.

Because men don't think it is Macho to count out change when they are paying for something the way women do( and form a long Que at the checkout  they just flash a note, also makes them look more like Earl Flynn    . The older generation will get the joke.

[ChrisB]

Ken, your account is hilarious, an ingenious method for keeping your travelling plants safe.  I think I may entrust mine to Jiri's packers.... Susann, I thought you meant you were taking the plants by car.  It is a great way to take them of course!