Addition to Plant Database

I have searched a few times for evergreens, bushes, etc. I'm just getting started on my landscaping and sometimes I want to know the speed of growth of particular bushes/plants/evergreens. Does anyone else think the addition of this info on the plant database would be useful? For example, I planted some yews last year (when I was really new at landscaping) and was frustrated they haven't shown any significant growth in a year. I would have loved to know that they grow really slowly in most cases (course a little book research would have told me that, but I prefer online).
What do you think?

Zac, I think rate of growth should be in the PDB.

Strangely enough, Yew is one evergreen I wouldn't plant as I bought one once and it outgrew the window where I planted it in about 3 years!

I think this could be useful information, assuming we can agree on some standard definitions/terminology.

We could have three basic categories, described as fast, moderate and slow growing. If so, we need to agree on what constitutes fast, moderate and slow.

Fast growing = ??
Moderate growing = ??
Slow growing = ??

Or, we could forego descriptive terms and present them as categories that include a range of inches/feet (and metric equivalents) for average growth per year. For example,

less than 1" per year
1-12" per year
12-24" per year
more than 2 feet per year

I'm definitely open to hearing pros/cons of including this information (and the format in which it's presented). Thoughts, reservations, and comments are welcome!

I think if we put in all the checkboxes that described an individual plant we'd have some entry pages that are 3 pages long!

There is one minor problem with the PDB that is also one of it's greatest advantages, it's written by members from a whole range of countries. Paulownia for instance can grow a number of feet a year in some US states, here in the UK is't quite slow growing, so which growth rate is correct?

Growth rate can be one of those things that is an individual trait to certain climates and in this light the comments box is the ideal place for it. Some of us who write long comments often add the information already.

JMHO

Sorry Terry we must have been writing at the same time, but my comment still stands.

I think a good solution, Baa, is a category worded something like:

"Typical growth pattern under optimal environment:"

with options like Terry had shown above.

Also, we could consider not using the inches and feet but instead use percentages. If the plant reaches a height of 50' and grows about 5 feet per year, can you say it grows by 10% each year? Then, the user may go through and figure it up for himself. Look at prickly pears, which probably do less than 1%, or pokeweed, which does 100% of about 10 feet (approximate maximum height) in one year.

And, lastly, just putting generic terms might be a fine solution. "Slow", "Medium/Slow", "Medium", "Rapid", "Watch it grow in realtime!" :)

Just some rambling thoughts. I think the rate of growth would be an excellent addition to the PDB.

Dave

Well it looks like it's going to go in anyway so any further comment from me would just seem I'm spitting in the wind.

Baa,

You do have a very good point about the PDB becoming 3 pages long, and that's a tough call. The cool part about the PDB is that we are able to collect all this useful information. The hard part is how to display it all without overwhelming the users (and administrators!!).

I'd love to spend some more time thinking about ways to expand the data of the PDB without sacrificing the readability and management of it.

dave

The reason I was attracted to this particular idea is that there are times when a gardener desires to find a plant that grows quite rapidly (or very slowly) to fit their particular needs.

I understand and share Baa's concerns that the PDB could grow to be too bulky, and I've quashed some ideas that were well-intended, but I feared wouldn't add enough value to warrant expanding the current checkboxes.

So I say all that to say I'm still open to discussing the pros and cons before we implement the idea. (and I'm handing Baa a hanky to dab at her face, since spitting into the wind can be mighty messy ;o)

Growth-rate depends on many factors besides genetics. Temperature, light, type of soil, how green is your thumb, etc, etc.
For instance, I have had castor beans from the same parent grow feet per month in one location, and inches per year in another part of my yard.
That's my two cents worth.

My vote would be to leave it out of the PDB as too many things come into play on the success or failure of a particular gardener's or a particular plant's growth rate. What someone may experience in a GH is probably different than a Zone 3a or 10b grower might experience. Just too many variables. Also, this is a good commentary for the Comments area. Personally, if I want to know something like growth rate or how to id seeds, etc then I usually email someone that is in my Zone (or close to it) that has posted comments or pics of the plant in question.

I see that info as a good topic for forum discussions or even emails that allow members to get to know each other better or share a common interest in specific plant.

So, who won?

After I entered a comment about Wallflower
Erysimum linifolium growing from a cutting to be 5 ft tall and 6-8 ft wide in 3 years in the pdb I was told that that is not normal. I didn't realize that the plant usually stayed much smaller and had many people contact me to find out what I had done to make it grow like that. I still do not know why my plant outgrew all the others in the area including the one I got the cutting from. So if you asked me how large it gets and how fast it grows I would say it gets huge in the space of a couple years while my neighbor would say it is a very slow grower that only gets to be a mound about 2 ft over the course of 7 years.

This type of discrepancy in growth rate and mature size seems best left to the comments section to me. After all, it is for gardeners by gardeners information so that our comments reflect our individual experiences.

Just my 2 cents worth :~)