Down to the wire :)

I just took a peek at the number of photos, plants and comments we've added since July 31. (Remember, the goal is 2,000 photos and 1,000 comments/ratings.)

So far, we've added 1,600 photos and almost 600 comments (and almost 3,000 new plants!)

So let's pull out the stops and see if we can add ~400 photos and ~400 notes in the next few days.

Dave has changed the wording on the comments section to (hopefully) make it clearer - now it's up to us!

If everyone adds just a few comments or photos, we'll easily reach this goal. But it DOES take everyone doing just a little bit :) If you have questions or comments, feel free to post them here or email me directly.

Thanks again to everyone who has helped us get this far!!!

I'll get my camera out and take some more pictures today. I'm running out of unique plants to photograph, however!

Maybe another trip to the UT Gardens is in order. :)

dave

Kenny has a doctor's appointment in Marble Falls today ~ I'll take my camera and see if I can find any new plants.

We've made some good progress since I posted this yesterday - the number of images added since July 31 is now around 1750 - just another 250 to reach the goal!

And the number of notes/ratings got a boost, too. But we still need about 370 more to get us to 1,000. I'm planning to get in there tonight and rate some plants I've been growing this year - won't you join me?

In case you're wondering WHY I beg and plead for ya'll to do this, picture this: you have two seed catalogs in front of you.

The first catalog has all the facts - plant name, height, zones, etc. Good factual information - but that's all it has.

The second catalog has all the facts PLUS photos and anecdotes about how well (or poorly) the plants grew for people (not marketing hype, but honest opinions from fellow gardeners like you.)

Now tell me, which catalog would you want to spend more time looking through? Which one would tempt you to find out more about the company that produced it?

It's the same with our database - the comments and photos are what bring the facts and data to life and make it appealing to users who find it. And the photos and comments tend to prompt the newer users into sharing THEIR opinions and images when they see that's what everybody else is doing.

(And do I need to mention the prizes again??? :)

Will do, Terry! No, no need to mention prizes, for me atleast. I just added a bunch of ornamental sweet potato varieties and had so much fun finding out all about them that I've already received my prize in knowledge and the knowing that I helped.

There! That's a shameless plug if I ever saw one! LOLOL! *Groan ~ hisssss ~ kiss-up!* LOLOL!

Seriously, it was fun doing that and I DO know a lot more about them now ~ that's really cool! And I found a couple vars. that I HAVE to have! *Grin!* It wasn't as hard as I thought it was either. Pretty simple, actually! I'm heading back over there to look for some squash and beans that need comments, amybe some tomatoes, too. Since vegetables are food, they're this fat girl's forté.

Can I ask a dumb question? Is it possible to pull up a list of entries that do not have photos?? I am sure lots of us have plants we just don't think to photograph that may be needed. I try to look around and see what I have but 9 out of 10 are already here. By the same token, can a list be pulled of ones with no comments? I realize the pdb is huge and so the lists would be too if it is even possible.

hehehe, that's a Dave question. In fact, it's a leftover from last year's contest (glad you asked!)

Seriously, I don't think you want to try pulling up every plant that doesn't have a photo. But when you pull up a genus or a group of plants with specific characteristics, you will see the lack of thumnail to tell you there's no photos. And no symbol to the left is a tip-off there's been no comment made (I think - gotta test that one, because the entries with neutral ratings may or may not have a symbol next to them.)

Truth be told, I don't have the best camera in the world and no extra storage. So, I have to keep it set to 7 pics at a time and run in and out of the house, downloading. LOL I guess I could look through everything I can think of that I have and run out and see if it is photoworthy and not and whether or not it is covered in weeds. LOL

I'm with you all the way, Go_vols. Thanks for the heads-up! I've been working on the database while I wait for my bathwater to cool off a bit every night.. guess I'd better add a little more hot water!