Themed holidays have been around for a long time, suited to hobbyists whose pastimes have included painting, cooking or indeed gardening.

While garden-themed holidays simply used to involve trips to well-known gardens to admire the scenery and perhaps enjoy a guided tour, today’s offerings are more sophisticated, and if you pick the right holiday, you may have smaller groups, visits to private gardens and even a bit of hands-on experience.

Tailor-made garden cruises featuring talks by TV gardening experts, visits to exotic gardens where guests can sample the locally grown tropical fruits and trips which incorporate some of the major horticultural shows are all available.

Kew-trained horticulturist Sue Macdonald, who founded Boxwood Tours (boxwoodtours.net) in 1990, which specialises in quality garden holidays, says that green-fingered travellers are becoming more discerning.

“They want more private visits and want to meet the garden owners or head gardeners. That’s a big draw on a tour. They want to hear about the garden, how they cope with recent weather difficulties and plans for the future. They need someone there who can tell them the key information.

“Gardeners want a tour leader with a horticultural background, rather than just going around a National Trust property without meeting anybody, just looking. They want questions answered.”

The Royal Horticultural Society recently launched its first ever RHS Garden Holidays brochure in conjunction with escorted tours expert Collette Worldwide Holidays, featuring horticulture-themed holidays around the world, including itineraries to the US, New Zealand, South Africa, Japan, The Azores, France, Italy and Spain.

Celebrating the centenary of RHS Chelsea Flower Show, its China tours follow in the footsteps of the original plant hunters and offer visitors an element of discovery.

“For somebody who really wants to get down and dirty in plant hunting, looking under rocks, in damp bark, under leaves, up in the trees, in search of orchids or clematis or magnolia or whatever we are looking for, following in the footsteps of the original plant hunters, the plant seekers’ trip would be one for them,” says Sue Biggs, RHS director general, who has a background in travel.