• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Texas A&M Forest Service
  • Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostics Laboratory
  • Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service
  • Texas A&M AgriLife Research
  • Texas A&M College of Agrculture and Life Sciences
Montgomery County Master Gardeners
Montgomery County Master GardenersTexas A&M AgriLife Extension Service
  • Menu
  • Home
  • About Us
    • Demonstration Gardens
      • Adaptive Garden
      • Aquaponics
      • Bog Garden
      • Composting
      • Discovery Garden
      • Floral Gardens
      • Greenhouse
      • Herb Garden
        • Entry to Herb Garden
        • Herb Recipes
      • Orchard
      • Vegetable Garden
    • Educational Gardening Classes
      • Gardening Classes
        • 2022 November 12, The Living Layer of Earth
        • 2022 October 8 Gardening Class
        • 2022 August 25 Gardening Class – Growing Microgreens
        • 2022 August 13 Gardening Class – Turfgrass
        • 2022 July 21 Gardening Class – Orchids
        • 2022 July 9, Gardening Class
        • 2022 June 23, Gardening Class- Texas Superstars
    • Arbor Day
      • 2023 Feb 25, Arbor Day, Conroe TX
      • 2023 March 4 – Arbor Day Willis, TX
    • MCMGA Privacy Statement
    • Speakers Bureau
  • Contact Us
    • Garden Helpdesk
    • How to Become a Master Gardener
    • Soil Testing
  • Members Only
    • VMS
    • Forms for MCMGA Members
    • Membership Directory
  • Publications
    • Articles
  • Blog Posts
    • Texas Kidneywood
    • Red Velvet Ant
    • Wildscapes
    • Walkingstick Insect
    • Texas Wild Orchids
    • Tea Roses
    • Japanese Maple ‘Baton Rouge’
    • Skinks of Texas
    • It’s time to think spring bulbs!
    • Spring Bulbs Planted in Fall – Part one
    • Canna Leafroller / Brazilian Skipper
    • Mexican Bush Sage (Salvia leucantha)
    • American Beautyberry Jelly Recipe
    • Dragonflies and Damselflies
    • Rattlesnake Master
    • Do Copperheads eat Cicadas?
    • Crinum
    • Texas Bluebell
    • The Red-cockaded Woodpecker
    • Indian Pink
    • 2022 September Gardening Tips
    • 2022 August Gardening Tips
    • 2022 July Gardening Tips
    • What to do in the garden in July
    • 2022 June Gardening Tips
    • 2022 March Gardening Chores
    • 2022 February Garden Chores
    • 2022 January Gardening Chores
    • 2021 December Gardening Tips
    • 2021 November Garden Chores
    • 2021 October Gardening Tips
    • 2021 September in the Garden
    • 2021 August in the Garden
    • 2021 June Gardening Tips
    • 2022 F&N Sale On-line Resources
    • 2021 Spring Sale starts on Tuesday April 27
    • On-Line Gardening Class – Free
    • A happy gardener’s view to a symbiotic relationship with deer
    • New Texas Superstars
    • Profile of a master gardener – Lynell Soltys
    • Profile of a master gardener – Michael Christensen
    • Profile of a master gardener – Teena Reese
    • Profile of a master gardener – Lloyd Schill
    • Profile of a master gardener – Cliff Blackerby
    • 2021 Herb, Vegetable and More Sale – Starts Tuesday, March 16 *** On-Line ***
    • 2021 Herb and Vegetable on-line sale has been rescheduled
    • 2021 Fruit and Nut Sale
    • 2020 Virtual Fall Plant Sale
    • 2020 Fall Plant Sale Pre-View and Plant List
    • MCMGA 2020 Fall Plant Sale – On-Line
    • 2020 Fall Plant Sale – On-Line Shop is open
    • Heat-loving plants for summer months
    • Why you should aerate your lawn
    • Planting for Pollinators and Other Wildlife
    • Monarchs and Milkweed
    • What the heck is pH and why is it important?
    • Tale of Woe by Bob Dailey
    • 2020 Upcoming Saturday Classes from MCMGA (Plant Sale is CANCELED)
    • Photographing Flowers Series Part 11: Still LIfe Photography
    • Photographing Flowers Series Part 10: Life Cycle
    • Photographing Flowers Series Part 9: Abstract Photography
    • Photographing Flowers Series Part 8: The Art of Exclusion
    • Photographing Flowers Series Part 7: Find Something
    • Photographing Flowers Series Part 6: Shallow Depth of Field
    • Photographing Flowers Series Part 5: Black and White
    • Photographing Flowers Series Part 4: Macros
    • Photographing Flowers Series Part 3: Perspective
    • Photographing Flowers Series Part 2: Composition
    • Photographing Flowers Series Part 1: Light
    • Not Just Another Rose of Sharon
    • Must Have Abutilons
    • Fall 2019 Open Gardens Day
  • Events Calendar

Profile of a master gardener – Michael Christensen

October 4, 2020 by cblackerby

Portrait of Michael Christensen

Michael with flat hat

Michael is very distinctive and easily identified among master gardener members. He is invariably seen wearing his signature blue flat hat. It evokes images of Michael in a French Bordeaux vineyard, working the grapes and making wine. Asked about the story behind the hat he said, “His mother is English and as a kid the family visited England during the summers and those were the style hats he wore.” He also commented that his son in Canada wears the flat hat and this is a way to feel connected. In any event, it’s immediately recognizable and adds a bit of fun to Michael’s persona.

Pre-master gardener, Michael spent a career in the transportation industry. At one time he was the youngest certified railway engineer in the United States, but most of his career was in the aviation industry. Over the years he worked in sales, marketing and operations of British Caledonian, Sabrina Airlines, British Airways, Continental and a host of others. Michael found Singapore Airlines the most interesting because of mix of cultures. He was instrumental in setting up their Houston operations.

Michael’s family were farmers and early on he expected to continue the family business. Obviously, that didn’t work out, but it did create an interest in gardening that continues today. He started his master gardener program in 2012. His initial interest led him to work in the bog area. He was impressed with the teamwork and organization of the Bog team feeling that it was a good place for him. It helped that he had similar conditions around his home. Learning which plants like wet feet and which didn’t aided him when selecting plants for the house.

When asked his favorite plant he said he, “had to think about that a minute.” He finally said the Queen’s Tears, a member of the Bromeliad family was a favorite. Asked about his least favorite there was no hesitation – the Mother of Thousands wins hands down. Mother of Thousands is reminiscent of Audrey II in the Little Shop of Horrors. It not only looks like Audrey, but Michael said once you have it, it is almost impossible to get rid of.

Michael now works in the Greenhouse and is extremely proud that all the plants selected for the fall plant sale this year were propagated by master gardeners.

Filed Under: Blog Posts, Master Gardener Profiles Tagged With: Profiles

  • Go to page 1
  • Go to page 2
  • Go to page 3
  • Go to page 4
  • Go to Next Page »


 

Subscribe to our mailing list

* indicates required



Join Us on Facebook (primary sidebar)

Montgomery County Master Gardener Association
  • Facebook

Join Us on Facebook

Montgomery County Master Gardener Association

Join Us on Facebook

MCMGA members
Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service
Texas A&M University System Member

Login/Logout Below

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

Texas AgriLife Extension Office/MCMGA
9020 Airport Road
Conroe, Tx. 77303
(936)539-7824

  • Compact with Texans
  • Privacy and Security
  • Accessibility Policy
  • State Link Policy
  • Statewide Search
  • Veterans Benefits
  • Military Families
  • Risk, Fraud & Misconduct Hotline
  • Texas Homeland Security
  • Texas Veterans Portal
  • Equal Opportunity
  • Open Records/Public Information