Adopt-a-plant challenge!

As those of us in the Northern Hemisphere settle in for several more weeks of cold weather, let's have a fun challenge and help fill in some missing information in PlantFiles. As many of you know, PlantFiles is growing by leaps and bounds every day with new entries and images.

Unfortunately, many entries are incomplete (or completely empty), which isn't much help to the reader who's hoping to find out a particular plant's height, sun/shade requirements, bloom color, hardiness, etc.

Most of us have a big stack of catalogs that we're thumbing through as we make out our spring wish lists. And many times those catalogs contain key details for specific plant varieties.

If every member would adopt an entry and complete it, the current entries would be complete in a flash. (If you've added some entries and they aren't complete, now is the time to finish them up!)

If you have details you can share for several plants, that's even better! Working together, we can make a huge difference in the completeness (and helpfulness) of PlantFiles and put our seed/plant catalog information to good use - and help make the cold season pass by faster.

To make things more interesting, we have some nifty prizes to be awarded at the end of the challenge. A top prize will be awarded to the person who adds the most details (remember, accuracy counts!) and two random drawings will be held for everyone who participates in the challenge. Every checkbox you check off will increase your odds of winning.

The first place prize includes over $170 in gift certificates and seed, while the two random drawings are for approx. $35 to $60 in gift certificates and seed, all courtesy of some generous sponsors. We'll have more details about the prizes as the challenge nears completion.

WHAT: Add details to existing PlantFiles entries
WHEN: January 10 through February 28
WHO: All Dave's Garden members
WHY: PlantFiles is a Dave's Garden community project - what YOU know helps others!

Count Me IN! I'll learn something too - I'm sure! Do we have to notify you of which plants we adopt?

M.

Hi, Terry--sounds like a great idea, but maybe it would be helpful to let the posters on other forums know about it too. There are some really avid experts on some of those (as you already know, of course!) t.

That's a good point, although I try to avoid too many cross-postings if I can help it. But I guess we could all "adopt-a-forum", too? (*grin*) That's the roundabout way of saying if you want to post a "hey, look here" note and link to this thread in your favorite forum(s), that would be great!

Terry, I'm not sure how this is supposed to work. I went to Plant Files, clicked on Easter Lilies, went through the whole thing and the letters. There is info in the letters not on the files, so I'm thinking that info is already available but one has to read everything to find what all has been posted. I guess my question is where would I put any additional info like for the lily in PF says characteristicks ( can't remember exactly) of bloom, meaning what colors might be in the bloom I guess, other than white.;;;I don't think I am making myself very clear. Donna

Donna, if you have a particular variety or species you're familiar with you can find that entry and - if any of the description characteristics say "unknown - tell us" you can help fill in that section by clicking on that link. If you need help finding a specific entry or you need any help maneuvering around the form, just let us know.

great idea. Dunno if it will get all the files filled in, but it sure should help a lot :-) I'll do as many as my spare time will allow :-)

-Julie

Great idea! Count me in. :-)

Shannon

I'm in..........what a great idea Terry!
Do you need to know ahead of time what plant we're 'adopting'?

Marc

Thanks!!! There's no need to tell us which one you adopted (although you can always post back here and let us know about your little adoptee ;o)

If you adopt a plant first, you'll get to add the details - if someone else wants to adopt it the next day, they'll have to choose something else - "ya snooze, ya lose" kind of thing (*grin*)

The one thinig I need to make clear is that the challenge is to "adopt" (i.e., complete details) for plants already in PlantFiles as of yesterday. If you want to add a new plant during the challenge, that's fine - but it won't count toward the prizes.

Gosh! I wish I got plant catalogs...Jo

Jo, be careful what you ask for. Just how many catalogs would you like to receive?

ill help may not know to much but can look it up on the net.

i wish for a little more plant cats too. i only get 5 and i know there are more out there then that. i love looking and wishing on some of them. hehe

okay question the soil type what would these be??

clay
loam
sand
acidic
well drained

i know these are the soil requirments for this tree but all i see is acidic on there what are the clay and sand and others considered???

and how would i go about adding a pic as all i can get is off the web??

Clay, loam and sand are soil texture categories, based on the size of the individual particles (smallest to largest). They can vary in Ph.

Perhaps this is a detail that should be considered for the PF, later on down the road....?

You can add soil preference as a comment, if it's known that a plant prefers clay vs. sand, etc.

If you gave them a choice, most plants prefer sandy loam soil. A few like mucky clay, and some are native to sandy areas. But it's not something we added to the PlantFiles details when we designed the format, and unfortunately, the proverbial train has left the station. (With more than 80,000 plant entries, it's a bit much to go back and retroactively apply more data to each one, so adding more details is something we do rarely these days.)

Imzadi, if you have your own pictures to add, you'll find a link beneath each plant's entry (scroll down past the details and any comments that have been left), and you'l see a link to upload your image. Please read the guidelines and disclaimer very carefully - if the image is not yours, you must have prior (written or email) permission from the photographer/copyright holder) and uncheck the box to be sure your name won't appear as a watermark on the image.

It's really best to stick with your own images unless you're absolutely certain you understand copyright laws, public domain images, and then we ask that you use other's images only when there are no other images currently shown on the entry.

Not to discourage image submissions (they are definitely an important part of the daily newsletter!) but they are not part of this contest/challenge, which is simply to dig in and complete the existing entries' details ;o)

Do comments count?

thanks

will not add pics .

Mel, they don't count for this challenge. (Sorry!) But they're ALWAYS welcome!!!!

I've so far completed two....
Hebe 'Franciscana Variegata'
Austarilan Mint Bush 'rostanthera ovalifolia'

This is fun. :-)

Marc

This is FUN! I'm learning so much as I go through these :-)

OK Terry--that's a good idea for cross posting, although I don't think anyone would be upset if you posted your contest on the various forums. Quite the contrary, actually....

If I knew anything about plants, it would be fun, of course, I could always learn!...

About Copyrights...USDA Plant database has a citation you can copy and paste in description/comment section of Plantfiles. They specifically want you to use their pictures which is why they provide a citation.....just fyi.

Terry - I'm confused - how are you going to know who adopted what? I guess you can tell which recorded was updated and by whom.....and how do we adopt it and keep others out? Can't figure that one out.....

Please advise...

m.

It's a pretty informal "adoption service." Basically, if you find a plant you can complete the details for, go for it - consider it adopted.

I'll ask Dave to see if it's feasible to create a view of all the adopt-able plants as the challenge heats up and it becomes more difficult to find an entry that still needs help. (Right now, that isn't a problem - plenty of plants need details ;o)

OK Terry,

I took the liberty of posting your Contest Announcement link on these Forums: Hosta, Roses, Peonies, Iris, Hemerocallis, Butterfly and Hummers, Bulbs and a couple of others (which I can't remember right now...)

Hope you get a great response--it would be really neat to get the Data Base up to date and completed (as much as possible.)

Good luck. t.

I saw the one in the rose forum - thanks!!!! I hope we all pitch in to make it a success and have PlantFiles ready and waiting for all those spring and summer gardening questions ;o)

This sounds like a fun contest.

So you are able to track the actual days that we added the information, so that prior info that is already there, isn't counted?

Karrie, yes Dave has a way of monitoring what's been added as of the contest date. Also, what's been added to entries already in PF and what are done on new entries. The details added on existing entries are all that count for the contest. New entries, photos, comments are wonderful and we welcome them but they do not count for the contest.

Let me ask my dumb clarify it for the blonde question- If I read your initial post correctly, we can update any existing entry in the PF from our own experience OR from catalogs? So I can fill in info on a plant I don't have as long as I am getting it from a catalog or other source? Just want to make sure I am reading that right!

texasgarden, that would be correct. If it's a plant you don't grow, it's usually a good idea to do a web search (using Google or some other search engine) and make sure the catalog information is accurate.

Which brings up another good point about all those details....

1) When filling in the hardiness zones, be sure to fill them ALL in. If a plant is hardy from zones 4-9, then all those checkboxes should be checked. (If you live in zone 6, and check off only that zone no one else can come in behind you to add THEIR zone(s), so check all that apply.

2) Conversely, if a plant isn't too picky about the soil pH, please choose the 3-4 ranges in which it grows BEST - please don't check them all ;o)

Thanks for the clarification. I will double check anything I update with another source, but I was also going to try and stick to plants I grow if possible. :)

Jamie

Terry, how 'bout adding a propagation by root cutting category? For the home gardener, root cuttings are the only method of asexual propagation for special cultivars among Japanese anemones and poppies. It may be more efficient to propagate bleeding hearts by this way, too. For Phlox paniculata varieties whose tops are infested with eel-worm, root cuttings are a nice, non-chemical way to save the plant. This technique works for many other types of plants, as well.

This message was edited Jan 11, 2005 3:56 AM

We can add this technique - but the problem lies in going back and adding it to each existing entry it applies to. Are you willing to take on the task? If you are, then send me a note and we'll see what we can do.

Will you be posting any "status" information, so we can see how we're doing?

Can you explain what constitutes an added detail? For instance, if I add zones 4a - 9b, does that count for 1 detail added or do I get credit for every box checked. Just want to make sure everyone understands how this works. I've done these challenges before, but not everyone has, so it helps to spell a few things out.

This message was edited Jan 11, 2005 11:56 AM

The goal is to increase the PF and have fun, right? For my part, I'm not too worried about status reports.....my only personal challenge will be to keep it down during the day. Some days I seem to spend more time on DG than at my day job! It's those "coffee" breaks....lol :-)

Well, gotta go...
Shannon

Me too Shannon! I have started disciplining myself though- must get through "xyz," then I will reward myself by taking 5 minutes on DG. Ha! I think they need to add a disclaimer- "not responsible if you get fired for spending your entire work day on this website." LOL!

Jamie

I'd love to adopt a plant!I'll go check out my seed catalogs right now!

Chelsea

This is such a good idea, Terry! It's so disheartening to look up a plant in the PF and find no information... just a picture, or worse yet, nothing but the name. When I was being a good database person (I've been shirking lately... you've noticed, I'm sure), I used to do what you suggested. I'd get online or check my catalogs for information to fill in the blanks. Somewhere along the line, I got the impression, however, that we shouldn't add info or make comments unless we had personal experience with the plants. Is that the case?