Give your Zone and Town! (Please ;o)

Hey Lofer, just go by the lowest temperature you have experienced in Tokio within the past few years and look it up on the zone map.
Here is one for the Voting Booth: "Do you believe in Global Warming?"

This is pathetic!

I think that when people sign up here, they look at those forms like you look at the forms at ... say Yahoo or AIM or some other (non gardening) forums. I never fill in my info in places like that. (Does anyone ever tell them your yearly income???) What could they need it for other than to make my email addy that much more spammable? Perhaps to enable the local stalkers? ;-)

It's only after people are here for a while that they realize that
a) this place ain't like that, and
b) that location info really is needed here.

And by then, they don't know how to fix it ...

So, I don't want to be too hard on the newbies about the location thing. But, gads! if you've been here a few months and still don't feel comfortable giving your zone (assuming you have a zone) or area ... what's the problem?

my 2 cents ...

Cheri'

If it were to be made MANDATORY, what could be lost? A couple of new members? There already are 94,254.

Edited to say 94,255 (shall I keep this up?)

This message was edited Apr 28, 2004 10:02 PM

Maybe a note could be put on the sign-up page indicating why zone and such is important and helpful.

If a person says "what plants can I put in such-and-such a place in my yard", yet no one knows where they live, it delays their getting an answer until someone asks and the member replies with the needed info. With a zone, help comes more quickly.

Maybe a note could be put on the sign-up page: "No Shirt, no Shoes, no Town, NO SERVICE!"

http://davesgarden.com/t/427925/

Oh, be nice, Max. I know it's a challenge, LOL!

"No shoes" would mean Horseshoe would have to exit DG. Maybe he'd be grandfathered in....

I like the idea of testing the hardiness of plants in my zone9b Sunset 14. I know that I am in a small percentage of the people in the database, but I know of zone8 people who can grow things I would not have thought of, like most Austrailan and S.African plants.I know Passifloras have been tested in this area down to 25f, 23f, even lower and stilll remained evergreen. That is sometmes 5 to 7 degrees colder than the books say. Knowing that a plant that can't grow in zone whatever and does is what I like about this whole great system we have. Actual people doing the test on the plant, yes it does grow in my neighborhood.Someone clued me into give your zone, so I always try to do the same to a new person. Plus you get to meet nice people and know where they live.

Many people signing up for anything on the internet are uncertain whether they should give information about themselves. Many people find it scary. Although city and zone may seem like not a big deal to someone who lives in Chicago, it may seem scary to someone who lives in a town of say 100 people or less.......

Give them time. It isn't that hard for them to go to their own member page and change things. My birthday wasn't on there before, but I went to it and updated it.

Please don't be hard on the newbies. Give them the time and space they need, as we live in an age of identity thieves and freaks, and people need to know they are safe before sharing. That's just the way it is. As far as listing just their zone - what if they are so new they don't even know what that means? They are here to learn - just as we all were and still are.

Well said Karrie

I agree some of the North American new subscribers might not always know too much about zones, what are international members supposed to do? I'm sure I cannot grow and over winter all the same plants Monterey can, and yet I live in a similar minimum temperature region.

I feel this is becoming an unwelcoming thread and were I a new member I might feel obliged to put in that info without being able to become comfortable first. I don't plonk a seed in the ground and then try to guilt it into germinating in 24 hours, encouragement a nurturing should be gardeners watch words!

It's not meant to scare anyone, but people say can this plant grow at my house ,or it does grow at my house, then don't say where they are. If a person doesn't know their zone , maybe where they live is enough. It's a learning process. I liked the idea that someone helped my to understand the rules of how my questions can be answered.I found two plants at a state park that I needed I.D.ing Crystalspin told me to say that they were wildflowers, that is what I mean. I live in a strange zone anyway myself in that I have heat, but also some of the same bay area weather patterns.After all it's fun to explore and learn new things.

Dave, maybe it's time to put the "nag notice" (grin) on DG again? You know, the hyperlink notice that says "hey, we want to know some information about you, and this isn't going away until you click on it to go to your personal page and add some info.)

Or (thinking aloud here), maybe the "nag message" could launch the minute someone signs up and doesn't add this info, and it STAYS there until they add their city/state/country? (Then again, that may be a bit too demanding and nosy "right-off-the-bat"...)

How about a notice that comes up when someone who hasn't disclosed information tries to add something to the database:

"We cannot accept entries in the plants database from members who have not disclosed their location and hardiness zone (zone applies to U.S. members). We apologize for this inconvenience, but this policy ensures that the database stays accurate for all viewers."

Let me play devil's advocate here. Let's say I live in South Dakota for fifty years before retiring to Florida. Does my current location have any bearing on my experience with growing a Lilac shrub? Would knowing I live in Florida provide any useful insight for readers of my comments about that Lilac? Or would it likely cause more confusion than it would clear up, since Lilacs are notoriously difficult - if not impossible - to grow successfully in Florida ;o)

The PDB has never required the user's location in any way - your ZIP code report can be for a place you lived previously, or somewhere you visited, and saw the plant growing.

We don't display their member information next to their comments or images - you have to track back to DG to find out much about the person. Should that information be more tightly tied into the PDB? Maybe. But unless/until we do, there's no reason to stop people from entering information in the PDB if they choose to not disclose their location, and there's not a clearly defined logical reason for requiring it at this point. It's really more helpful in the discussion forums than anywhere else, IMO.

Well, if it were a requirement, to be a subscriber and be able to post in the forum, you might lose people because of that requirement, as there are some people who are just more private than others, and may not feel inclined to tell people where they live. The way I see it, is if someone in the forums doesn't disclose their location or zone, I simply don't give their post about being able to grow something much credit.

Terry I think there is a logical reason to have it in the PDB. I was saying in that other thread with my million questions :) that I usually dont give any credence to a comment on a plant until I trace that person's dave's page back to find where they're from.

And actually, come to think of it Terry, the comments you usually put in the PDB are extremely helpful because you give general plant care and growing conditions--and I definitely dont need to know where you are. I guess when I would like to see zipcodes is when a person says, 'I could not do anything to get this plant to grow,' or, ' this plant did not like full sun here, it is too intense.' Then I will usually try to track down what zone or state that persons in.
I guess if that's the only time I need the zipcode, then I can see how it might be silly to require it from everyone.

I think it's just great that there are so many people into the whole thing of growing things. Instead of taking pride in killing things as a hobby. I can't believe that all these folks in Ca. aren't doing what the rest of the country does and that's enjoying the beauty we have.Ow! I just fell off my soap box! Keep up the good work.

Since I realized that my zone info doesn't follow me into the PDB, I like to start my comments with "Zone 9 South". (I think the "South" is more relevant than the "a") This way, anyone coming across my comment who is in, say, zone 3, can just skip past it.

Cheri'

While we are at it, let's make the GENDER required. Are 'fl32$g' or 'Kelli' sexless or what?
(Just kidding, of course)

LOL!

The Arbor Day finder says my zone is 9-10. if you count the a's and b's, that's four choices! Now, if you look at the variation in yearly lows, this is possibly true, but not very helpful for the discussion we are having!

For my mom it says 5-6: same observation PLUS the fact that the heat rating probably has a lot more to do with the plants that will grow (in Moab UT).

On the other hand, it is the best (only???) system we have, and even fairly well-travelled people like myself may have no idea what garden conditions prevail in eastern WA or AR or any number of other regions. I just found out GA (at least some of GA) meets the chill-requirements for lilacs!

"only" gets three question marks because the Sunset zones have been expanded to the whole country.
http://www.sunset.com/sunset/Premium/Garden/Climate/BGClimateMap10.html
I don't think well-known enough to use exclusively, but we (Dave that is) might offer a place for it to be entered and displayed.

Like Dave needs another suggestion. -- X.

Karrie is right about "some people" and the Internet, not giving out information that is.

OTOH, in the PDB it is frustrating, even annoying, to read "DO NOT PLANT THIS" or "YOU MUST HAVE THIS" and click the person's name to find no clue of where they had the bad or good experience.

Maybe the bug-me screen (or something nicer) in the subscription process. And above or below "adding a note to" maybe a mention of "would your location or zone help other gardeners?"

Just a thought. -- X.

The National Gardening Association website http://www.garden.org/b2b/zipzone/index.asp gives me the correct zone--6a. The Arbor Day site said I was in 6-7.

I'm sure a certain percentage of the people who show up as "Location Unknown" on the homepage when they first join, eventually go back and put that info into their profile. Some might be only joining to access the advanced search features of the Plants Database and are not planning to use the forums. (They'll eventually realize what they're missing!)

Ha ha
http://davesgarden.com/t/428322/

RIGHT ON! THAT is the ONE!!!!! It showed me as zone 5b, exactly as it should have! Thanks a bunch for that link!

Now - If we could get Dave to add that as a link at his home page to help new ones here know what theirs were - that would be very helpful. Thanks clapropnon!!!!!!

I kinda doubt that NGA would allow us to use their ZIP code map ;o) If they got it from another source, and it isn't proprietary, we can look at using it. It lists me as zone 6b, which may or may not be correct. The new map has us listed as 7, which - if recent winters are fairly typical - is more accurate, regardless of the a or b distinction.

Terry - it doesn't hurt to ask.

They have me listed as zone 8a. I don't think so. If we get below 25f it's freak out time here Zone 8a is 10-15f.

I used to be 5a, and now it is 5b, and from what I've seen with global warming, I probably am getting closer and closer to the 6.

I think it is meant for newbies, just finding out. I mean - would any of us that have known what is going on in our environment, with our plants even give a website that much credit for what we know we can grow, and what we know we can't? HELLO!

I think once you become comfortable with your haves and can't haves, you can pretty much go from there and develop your gardens, as I have. I can't have tropicals, but I can in the summer, if I do them correctly - and baby them, bring them indoors........ etc. etc.

It is a learning experience. And I find it alot of fun!

You might find this old voting booth question interesting: http://davesgarden.com/t/374814/

bravo Terry!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :) gotta love ya honey!

claprophon

That web site lists my zip (95336) as 7a. Man do I have the wrong winter clothes. lolololol

i like kari's idea with the
"We cannot accept entries in the plants database from members who have not disclosed their location and hardiness zone (zone applies to U.S. members). We apologize for this inconvenience, but this policy ensures that the database stays accurate for all viewers."
message for people entering things into the pdb
but perhaps, instead of not allowing people to add things, there should be a nice little message like "we really prefer that you disclose your location and hardiness zone before submitting things here" (but much more professionally worded.. i'm not capable of wording things properly at 3:45am)
or something like that.. and in the message there should be a link to where the person should go to fix the problem (adding their location and zone) because i know lots of people dont fill out that information out of habit, and then later on they realize that it really is important but dont know how to fix it....

Kim

lol! ty kim!

Here's a kink to all this zone business. Here in Zone 4A, Strawberries get through most winters on their own. Our patch was pretty much gone this spring, but it don't seem to be from the winter. Starting in August, it was very dry all fall & winter. I observed in late summer, many of the plants looked dried up. Also there were very few new runners on the plants. Looks to me the moisture conditions had more to do with the loss than the zone or cold.
Many winters here the low temperature goes well below what they list for this zone!

All of southern Minnesota is zone 4A, but here we cannot overwinter peach trees. In SE Minnesota near the Mississippi river they go through the winter with no probelm.
I would imagine all zones have these micro-climates, so what works for one person would not for another.
Bernie

I am in what Sunset Magazine calls Zone 14. That means I have ocean weather coming in to cool, and warm me in summer and winter. 10 miles to the east they can be 10 degrees hotter or cooler. I agree about the micro- climates. I look at the weather records, averages etc, for my zip code. This can tell most people what zone they live in. Just look at avg. min and max yearly by month. The charts at the weather lookup under details, records.

Wow, it looks like the NGA database is powered by a hamster on a treadmill. I guess people are better off sticking with a map. :-)

Their map had me at zone 9b but the lookup said 8a 10 to 15 degrees colder.

I want to PRETEND that I am in zone 10 today! That alright with everyone else? lol!