Feel a need for a new forum- North American Exotic Invasives

Thanks Terry, I'll read the Garden Foes forum, and hope to see others from this thread there. Onward!

Whew! I'm glad I was in the hospital while all this was going on!

BUT, I have to add a comment as a middlin' gardener.... taking Coals to Newcastle, so to speak.

As a newbie gardener, I was given a Gooseneck Loosestrife at the very first DGRU in Tennessee in June of 2002. I actually looked it up in the PDB and at that time there was nothing that said it was invasive. Terry herself wrote later

Well, let me tell you all that evening primrose (the tall yellow one) is quite invasive in my yard! It self seeds everywhere and apparently, has a 140% germination rate. Yes, seeds that AREN'T EVEN THERE sprout and flourish!

It's more well behaved if it has competition from other forbs and grasses though. So, while I made the mistake of planting it in my garden...it has been meek in the little prairie. We'll see what shows up next spring.

The short pink primroses are the same....if they have competition, they are well behaved.

I wouldn't worry about Cosmos. It's an annual. It will self seed...but unless you make a point of collecting and spreading the seeds, it will come back less and less every year until it is gone, by about the 3rd year, in my experience. Finch type birds seem to like the seed a lot! If you keep it dead-headed, you can pretty much assure continuous blooming and no spreading. Gooseneck Loosestrife is...how do you say.....robust! Fortunately, I discovered that, in my case, when it started coming up where I didn't want it, all I had to do was pull it up. Once. Whew!

Friends don't let friends plant physostegia or oenthra! April

When I joined DG...Let's see...WAAAAY back in Sept. of 2001...Terry...how many forums did we struggle through the day with??

I have suggested different things for a new forum...so far Dave has only agreed with me on one...Am I angry?....Heck no...there is more forums now that I can possibly keep up with. Jo

I was neither lobbying For nor Against another forum for this, simply stating my observations as a middlin' gardener about invasives.

I certainly have lobbied For some new forums, and Against others. There are so many now that I don't read half of them. I'd have to stay up all night, LOL.

BTW, what happened to the Tool Shed? Did it get trashed? I was looking for a tool and didn't find the forum.

And we always have the yearly "What did you plant in your garden this year that you wish you hadn't?" thread.

Yeah! Where is the tool shed. I could have sworn I read it just the tother day?

brugie
the information was put together as we were asking for permission. So it was not compiled to throw it back in anones face so to speak. There have been other questions that have come up within this discussion and they were subsequently answered. Some are vital to understanding the workings of the fourms (like my questions on who can an can't see posts, etc...
Many people employ different methods of procesing decisions whether favorable or unfavorable to them or their specific interests.
While you make take no for an answer, back down immediately and move to another area/problem, many need to further discuss and toss around issues. Both have their advantages and drawbacks no matter how you feel about the issue. But is a process of of understanding and working things out.
And I do believe the Terry is not so annoyed at us to tell us all to shut the heck up (at least not yet).

rr and darius: I'm just currious cause I see this over and over from a lot of people.....why do you feel that you need to keep up with every forum?

Pville, some people are naturally not territorial and friendly and like to keep up with DG. They like to keep up with many forums. They come and go in many places. Knowing both Darius and roadrunner I can say that they like to try to keep abreast of all of the folks and topics that they have come to love on DG. They might like to see a regional aspect but they keep, as I have said before to you in regards to university students, a broad horizon instead of keeping to their immediate surroundings.

My apologies for answering for them.

Brugie,

this is of course all about people bantering back and forth about what they think. Thinking is not illegal here. The moderators still rule the roost...no matter what I think or say. I choose to discuss their decision. I don't really aim to change it. Discussion is good! I like it. April

Pville... I read a LOT of forums because my interests are both varied and vast. I'm a gardener, a cook, a pet owner, a handywoman, a crafts person, a health nut, and many more facets abound that I can exprss here on DG. I do not feel I "have to keep up" with forums, just that so many interest me. Plus being retired and living alone, I have the time.

Dais' your answer was so succinct that you owe no apology for answering for me!

I do believe this discussion has been redirected to http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/469038/ . I am in no way stating my opinion in the matter just trying to make you aware that the information is all available at the above link. As far as the topic of this thread I think that matter has been closed. If you are interested in the information being gathered about invasive plants there is a great thread going on in Garden Foes.

could some one e mail me when this is over I can't keep up with all the shifting now we are on attendence. I though we could use as many forums as we liked well if Ican only use one or two then it will be the tomatoe forum and no more than two as alternates. Sorry if I am one that has used more than my share. Ernie

Way cool mystic thanks for posting this (I've been out of the loop today with many weed board meetings)!!

eweed...not sure what you are referring to...as I stated...I was asking merely out of curiosity because I have seen many people post on various thread that they don't want to see any more forums because they can't keep up with them so I was merely asking about that.....like darius I have many varied interests too and I like to cruise different forums and different times but I don't feel pressured in any way to keep up with all of them. If that is what your were referring to, it had nothing to do with attendence or some sort of quota.

I HAVE to keep up with them...I am as curious as Curious George! LOL

No, since I don't have the health to garden much...unless some kind soul comes along and makes me some raised beds...but I love to see what others a growing. I have checked EACH box so that I can get into each forum...just in case I want too.

Ya'll take care now, hear? Love ya!! Jo

Pville - please e-mail me a phone # - Dyson

Wow! I get the flu and don't keep up and I miss the fireworks, dowsing, reconsideration and reconsilation.
I''m a newby to DG and haven't taken advantage of PDB and didn't have the opportunity to look at Garden Foes but I'm going to take a chance (since I have been guilty of adding to the problems of invasive plants) and hopefully give someone a new thought. How about changing the title Garden Foes to something llike Ecological Disasters Waiting to Happen, Will This Plant be a problem?, Plant and Insect Thuggery, or Out of Place, Out of Control. I admit I need to read this thread more judicially so if someone already suggested this I apologise. Surely as plants are questioned and convicted of disasterous invasion they could be added to an FAQ. Is the PDB a relational database? If so could an invasives report be included in the fields and search parameters?
A talk I was requested to do not long ago to a local garden club was on invasive plants. While doing the research I discovered to my shock that the state of Indiana reguards Virginia Creeper a desireable plant. That was from the DNR! Jessamine

Yeah, Jessamine, that's what's cool about being able to talk to other gardeners about this subject. Only gardeners really know what becomes horrifically prolific in local soils -- even the state horticulturalists, as educated as they are, might not realize that a plant that's well-behaved in the rocky soils of the northeast part of the state will take over your world down in the loamy southwest quadrant. And your neighbors down by the river will regard a plant differently than the neighbors on the hill. It's good to get a variety of opinions and consider the sources and then decide what to plant. I'm going to turn to the Garden Foes forum for discussion of invasive plant issues, and I hope you all will check in over there now and then.

Plus that tea invite still stands.

--Rock City

Oh and I hope you're feeling better. We can throw a tea towel over your head over the tea kettle and see if the steam helps. :)

Well didn't I put my foot in it.(I'm not gonna say what "it" is.) I see that there has been a lot of to-ing and fro-ing on this including the name of garden foes so I will try to get up to speed on a subject before I make myself look silly. I can see a definite need for a more specific reference for those nasty invasives. Maybe I would have made other choices if I had been able to use the info more effectively. I tried to correct the errors I made but I probably missed some crown vetch and tansy that slipped into the meadows below our house. Jessamine

I like having all the information on the plants database. One place to look for height, color, habits--everything. I can reference it one cultivar at a time instead of purusing lists.

My neighbors don't care for the wildflowers growing in the water filter basin at the end of the street, but I find them charming. One man's wildflower is another man's weed.

And if the info isn't accurate or complete then we certainly do miss out on alot, jessamine!! I too would like to be able to use the info more effectively. Would like to see the comments arranged from newest to oldest to reflect changes-a member praising it and then coming back and relating the nightmare, or reverse. Or, as laws change the info is the latest-not the oldest......
Yes indeed Wanda....one person's wildflower can be a legally defined noxious weed that is mandated for eradication ;-)

I just saw this thread, and only got about halfway down (it is very long and my back is starting to ache) but had an idea to share. It probably should have been offered when Dave re-vamped the website (perhaps it had) because it probably would involve some work.

You know how we "file" things on your computer? Folders within folders, etc...........

I have noticed that the Forums list is getting longer and longer, and it can be difficult to find particular forums sometimes, as there are so very many (I've been known to scan through 5 times to find just one). Adding more Forums will only make that worse.

But yes, sometimes people come up with good ideas - ideas that spark interest with more than just a few people. So then Dave & the Crew have to decide whether to yet AGAIN, add another forum to the huge list. So they do have to rule things out.

What I am thinking of is Forums with Sub-Categories, and threads within those Sub-Categories. Like:

Pest Control
Sub - Noxious Weeds
Sub - Insects
Sub - Animal Pests

Tomatoes
Sub - Heirlooms
Sub - Hybrids
Sub - Questions & Answers
Sub - Pictures

Perennials
Sub - Seasons
Sub - Questions & Answers
Sub - Pictures

In the Kitchen
Sub - Recipes
Sub - Quick Questions
Sub - Canning, Freezing, Preserving


Anyways, something along that line, where you first click the Header name, then click a sub category that shows the threads, thus keeping the main forum page less crowded. Just a different way of filing commonly used and similar but different topics.

Great idea for the forums, Karrie. I keep my 'Favorites' manageable that way.

Nice idea Karrie, I like it! Yes I keep my weed files for work much the same way....

filing system

Yes exactly...file management, lol!!!

Looks terrific, would be a great research tool.

Since I have no idea what kind of system Dave uses, I will only say it might require an entirely new system since not all are set up to be able to do that kind of sorting function. I suspect it would be prohibitively expensive to go that way. Jessamine

to form sub-pages?

It depends on the system and I don't know what Dave's system is. Jessamine

you mean his layout? his web page software? I guess I'm not following you, Jess.

Sorry about that. There are different types of logic patterns that can be followed. Each of them has it's benefits and shortcomings. Some collect and sort data in ways that are not compatable with others and if you try to compile the two types you can end up with garbage. I haven't done any programing in years, so I have no idea where the state of the art is now. I shouldn't have said anything because as I said I don't know what type of system Dave uses. Sorry I gave a null message. Jessamine