New options in PDB?

Is it possible to add some options to the PDB? Specifically I was thinking of "Good Fall Color" under foliage, and "winter interest" would be nice under other details. Or is too much to change them at this point?

One other question... "Grown for foliage" usually means to me that the flowers are insignificant. But some plants have fabulous foliage in addition to a wonderful flower show, and thus have multi-season interest. Do I still mark grown for foliage? I'm not confusing people then am I? (maybe I'm just confusing myself? lol)

Ruby, these are very good ideas; coincidentally I've been mulling over similar thoughts this week as I added some trees and shrubs. (I'm glad you were able to put my vague ideas into constructive, cogent form :)

As the PDB grows, it becomes increasingly difficult to add categories, not because it's technically hard to do (quite easy), but because we have sooooo many entries in there already that will need to have these new options checked.

So, with that caveat in mind, I'm glad to add them (but they'll be at the end of their respective lists until I can cajole Dave to rearrange them), and I'll count on you and others to look for entries that need to have this information noted. If the section was previously completed, and the "unknown - tell us" link doesn't appear, use the "report an error" while viewing that entry to let us know what else needs to be checked.

As to foliage vs. flowers, if the flowers ARE inconspicuous and the foliage is the plant's best feature, check the "grown for foliage" under foliage; under Flower Color, check "inconspicuous".

For plants that offer both, it's fine to note it as "grown for foliage", plus indicate its bloom color and time, then add a comment that explains it does double-duty with noteworthy flowers AND foliage :O)

Thanks Terry! I'll happily work on going thru those plants that I know have good fall color &/or winter interest, and will do as you describe for the foliage/flowers stuff.

: )

Okay, the new checkboxes have been added, along with a much-awaited category for cactus/succulents.

I have also been thinking alone these line: only in the topic of edibility (by parts: ie: fruit, flower, foliage, stems, seeds, seed podsor pads, etc.

For example, some taste good, some dont, and some are poisonous.

I now there is already one for poisonous, but others are edible and tasty, even others are edible if you wanna survive, but dont necessarily taste good.

Dave and I discussed having a checkbox for "edible" plants a while back, and I am very hesitant to add one.

Obviously many fruits and vegetables herbs in the PDB are perfectly edible, but some plants are noted for having properties that, when improperly prepared or consumed in large quantities, can be toxic if not fatal, so should they be noted as edible or toxic?

I'm not keen on adding to our editors' workload to research and sort out whether a plant should be noted as edible, toxic, or both. (Not to mention dealing with the confusion and questions that would come from such entries that have both boxes checked.)

And, heaven forbid, someone bases a decision on information they glean from our site, and we find ourselves faced with a lawsuit because the PDB "told them it was edible" and they became sick as a result.

The comments section is designed for members to add their opinion and experiences, which can include the edible nature (and relative quality) of each plant.

To add to the edible question (and you can include medicinal here), some plants are perfectly fine for many people to ingest but can have an affect on the old, infirm, very young and/or pregnant, a lot of herbs come into this catagory including culinary herbs. Sage if taken as a tea over a few days can cause symptoms that resemble poisoning, Tansy should be avoided if you're pregnant and the list goes on.

Terry

Could some of the propagation techniques be swapped with other, more often used techniques. I know some people use agar etc but there are other types of cuttings and seed germination techniques that are more often used but not listed. The one any European (if not other countries) will miss is the option for autumn sowing under glass, winter sowing is just a later version and not terribly popular outside of North America.

Or another thought, could some of the options go so that the simplest are left but other techniques could be included in the comments boxes or a separate propagation comments box under 'other', similar to what we used to have, this way we can include temperatures, burying or surface sowing etc.

Baa, is correct; I didn't address the plants whose properties may be beneficial/non-harmful for some, and VERY harmful to others - thanks for covering that base :)

It is probably a good time to take a second look at the propagation techniques. When I compiled this list, I asked for (and received a lot of feedback), but now that they've been in use for a while, there are some oversights that we need to correct for. And I still have the list of explanations/definitions for each technique that Linda/Wingnut put together, which I need to get into Garden Terms and hyperlink each technique to its corresponding entry.

Actually, I'm glad y'all brought propagation up as well... when I add options I may know that a plant can be propagated by seed, but not necessarily know which way is best to do it?