Adopt-a-plant challenge!

Weezin, obviously first-hand experience is best. But who of us has grown a plant in multiple zones and settings to be able to speak with first-hand knowledge of its hardiness? How many of us have conducted controlled trials on a plant's sun/shade adaptability, or various soil and pH to determine the effect on its growth?

If you have several reputable catalogs all stating that a plant is 18" tall, bears medium blue flowers in late spring, is hardy from zone 4 to 8, and likes part-shade - well, that's probably pretty reliable information to add.

Now when it comes to COMMENTS, first-hand experience definitely makes for better reading. But then again, if it's a new plant, you can add helpful information such as the plant was named for so-and-so, or it is a new variety introduced by XYZ breeder and that's good information, too.

Terry, I know this isn't exactly what the PF comments section is for, but I really enjoy reading how a plant got it's name or how it was first discovered. Is that actually appropriate, though? (Just because I like to read it doesn't make it suitable). :)

Added to say... I am one of those folks who enjoys a good competition. Yes, adding information is fun and it certainly helps out a lot of folks. Yes, it's also a great opporunity to learn. In my opinion, it's also a great way to excite people, myself included, by dangling something wonderful in front of us so we have something to pursue. (I might be simple-minded, I don't know, but I love a challenge).

~Carla

This message was edited Jan 11, 2005 5:22 PM

If the plant's specific epithet (species name) or the genus is already defined in Botanary, there's little reason to repeat it in a comment. And any details (hardiness, soil pH, height, etc. should take advantage of the checkboxes (which makes that data searchable as well.)

Beyond that, I agree a succinct comment about the plant's history, parentage, etc. makes for interesting reading - and is just as valid as a person's assessment of the plant.

Hey! I just learned about a squash that we didn't know about :) Fun challenge!

Way to go, Dea!!!

I am with roadrunner in so much as I don't get enough catalogues

That's VERY easy to fix, honibee ;o)

And if you don't WANT the catalogs in your house, most places have their catalogs online, too - which means a bit of hunting can yield the same information.

I've found that some of the best info comes from educational institutions with good botany departments. Just Googling the genus & species will pull up lots of good options.

Hey Terry, I'd love Honibee's problem to be fixed at my house too. I NEVEr get gardening catalogs :-(

Julie, your problem is a bit more difficult (although someone could take pity on you and send you a care package chock full of catalogs. But then you'd be tempted by all those images and no easy way to order.....)

spklatt, I agree - you'll find much good information (both commercial- and educational-based) from Googling the scientific name.

Oh I know Terry. None of the companies would ship to me anyway. But I can dream of flipping through catalogs anyway LOL

-Julie

Here's a few of my favorite on-line catalogs.......................there are lots and lots more however. A quick Google search will get you more than you could ever hope to read/browse through.

Thompson and Morgan: http://seeds.thompson-morgan.com/uk/en/---

Gurney's: http://gurneys.com/Default.asp?

White Flower Farms: http://www.whiteflowerfarm.com/

RainTree Nursery: http://www.raintreenursery.com/

HeronsWood Nursery: http://www.heronswood.com/

Big Dipper Farms: http://bigdipperfarm.com/catalog.htm

SpringHill Nursery: http://springhillnursery.com/default.asp_Q_sid_E_400286_A_eid_E_

Autumn Ridge Nursery: http://www.autumnridgenursery.com//index.cfm?CFID=4219544&CFTOKEN=79896371

Thanks for all these links, RikerBear! There are so many companies on the Garden Watchdog, let alone the internet as a whole, that's it's really nice to have a personal recommendation! :-)

Shannon

Last night I decided to pick a plant that grows here and start trudging through the different varieties in the PF... Aquilegia! It would be nice if all I had to do was fill in the blanks, but in some cases, there is even conflicting info as to which plant it is... How can the same species look so different from one website to another?? I realize some web info is in error, but in some cases, it is simply the difference in where it is grown, whether it has been brought into cultivation, etc.

I get side-tracked so easily, and I hesitate to hit the error button, since Admin is probably already swamped about this time. I need to start a document with links to the pages in question so I can work on them later. I'm also thinking of starting a thread asking for information I can't find in my books, hard copy catalogs, or the web... any suggestions on the best way to ask for personal experiences from DGers?

Rikerbear, thank you so much for that list! As Shannon said, with so many online, it gets a bit overwhelming and hard to know where to start and what is reputable. :-) It was really nice of you to post this list :-)

-Julie

I've always found Stokes to have good info both online and in their hardcopy catalog: http://www.stokeseeds.com/cgi-bin/StokesSeeds.storefront Of course, as with any web source, you need to cross ref to see if there is conflicting info.

Oh your welcome.....these are just some of my favorites......there are lots and lots more.

Oh you all have just GOT to go to the Springhill nursery site and see the corkscrew vine that they have featured on their homepage. OMG! It's absolutely GORGEOUS! I WANT ONE! Waaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh! :-(

Thanks RikerBear, I've already put those links to great use and am already whining about what I want ROTFL!

-Julie

Glad I could help....and please don;t blame me for the monies spent. hehehehehehehe

Nope, no blame. Only thanks. And for now, no money spent as such international orders really aren't feasible. But I can dream at least :-)

-Julie

Well now that you've read all about it, go update its PlantFile listing..... :-)

Well, I would....but it was already full LOL

-Julie

Weez, I think that's a good idea, with the list of things you want to ask them - I don't know if it makes it easier for them, but surely it must - ? I did that too, when I realized I had entered ISBNs wrong for about 5 garden books - put a list together, & pasted that into one e-mail.

I hesitate to use that error button too, but each time I do, Baa or Terry is so nice and appreciative! :-)

Yes, I've never experienced any negative feedback for hitting the error button... I've expected to have it removed from my view of the PF! LOL!

I've also considered partnering up with someone who grows some of the same types of plants that I do. We could go into a certain area, such as aquilegia and email back and forth with questions or source possibilities. Sometimes two heads are better than one.

And prizes for doing what we love to do...makes one of my winter project's all the more fun!

Terry,

Many plant files have all the details, but no pictures. Maybe it would be nice to place a single link to a site with a picture seeing we do not want to TAKE the pic from them! Maye the ability to edit an already filled in detail such as "Other Details" and allowing a PicLink there would be an idea.

Brian

Brian, those are good ideas. Unfortunately, we've found that hyperlinks tend to become broken over time, so we've had to discourage their use in PlantFiles (they're fine for discussion threads, where they tend to at least last while the thread is active.) It is a bit of a disappointment to see a plant entry without a photo, but patience is a virtue ;o) (Seriously, we've seen the photo submissions continue to rise steadily over the past few years, so I'm confident that eventually most entries will have at least one or more images to round them out - if everyone contributes even just a little bit.

The ability to open up a series of checkboxes that have already been checked off by someone else is a technical issue - we tried it and found that the original checkboxes were being changed/overwritten and sometimes that caused a dispute between the original user and the person who came along and changed things. We can't tell who-did-what once the boxes have been edited, which created a headache for the administrators.

For the time being, anytime you notice that additional checkboxes should be ticked in a "completed" section, use the red "report an error" button to tell us what else you think should be checked off - our volunteer editors (Baa, Mystic, PoppySue or myself) will take a look and make any necessary corrections.

Terry, I'd love to help with this challenge!

I think the one thing that frustrates me about the PF is SOOO many varieties for each species, and the info is 'spotty' or the user (me :-D) has to look into each variety to collect the info. It would be nice to be able to click on the spp. and find if not all, most, of the really important stuff. I think that's the problem you're trying to fix, now that I *think* about what I said.

I pushed the "Report Error" a couple of times...scared to death I was doing something wrong...but each time I've received the nicest "thank you" notes from Mystic and Baa. Maybe we need to have *two* buttons...going the same place...but without the word 'error' in one of them. Maybe 'Send Additional Information -or- Report Error'. That would make *me* feel more comfortable. LOL

~julie~

Julie,

You're right that focusing on the species entry (when applicable) helps. But for hybrids, there really isn't a species entry that can provide an "umbrella" of information for each cultivar. From time to time we've tossed around the idea of having general information for plants - probably at the genus level. We have some contributors who are most definitely qualified to write about a particular genus, so that idea may take off yet ;o)

Additional information that doesn't fit in the standard checkboxes can usually go in a comment. (And that's most likely the response you'll get if you tell us you have additional information *grin*)

LOL Thanks Terry. The "additional info" type stuff I was talking about is something like the expansion of the zones that I've clicked on the "error" button for. It's not really an error, more like what I would call 'additional info.'

I just want to take a second to say "Thank You" to you for always being so nice and answering people on an individual basis. I find that very satisfying.
~julie~
P.S. You don't have to answer this reply individually. :oD

Terry,

Under the Hosta catagories there are listings for Margin Color, Margin Width, but for a great deal of hosta's the options do not apply as the leaves are a single color. Adding a "N/A" check-box would make completing the hosta listing possible.

What do you think?

Brian

That sounds reasonable - wanna pose this idea in the hostas forum to get some additional feedback first? I'll keep close tabs on your thread if you do (scout's honor ;o)

This brings up a thought I had concerning mostly succulents and cactus (but I suppose it applies to some other plants too). Sometimes, a plant has say grey/green leaves, but are edged in a clear and distinct purple. I think this is important as part of the plant description, as without it (especially in PFs that don't have a photo), it would be impossible to correctly ID a plant by looking at what appears to be a complete description in the PF. I've got a chest cold, so I won't be offended if you think I'm being completely incomprehensible here ;-). In order to add the "purple edging" to a file at present, one must add a note about the plant. It just makes it a bit more cumbersome. Now that I see that Hostas have additional feature, perhaps we could add a feature to cactus and succulents in order to indicate leaf margin/tip color or whatever. Although I'm really not sure how it's possible that Hosta's have this feature in the first place (I mean, if someone adds a new Hosta, how does the PF for this plant get the extra feature that other PFs don't have?).

Thanks for humouring me ;-)

-Julie

Hostas (and beans, roses, tomatoes, clematis, and several other genera) each have a unique form with details specific to the genus.

How does it work? When you enter a hosta cultivar with the correctly spelled genus name, the system recognizes it as such and presents you with the proper form to complete.

As for doing this with cactus and succulents....there are two major reasons that have prevented us from moving forward:

1) Lack of consensus on what details would be included. Keep in mind the reason for the checkboxes is to allow someone to search for a plant using those characteristics. Being somewhat specific is important, but we also have to be careful to not become so specific that no one is going to fill in the checkboxes OR ever search by all the criteria we list.

2) The vast number of cactus and succulent genera, some of which cross over. (There are succulent and non-succulent species within certain genera. To pick and choose what to include and what to exclude entails a tremendous amount of work, and it's really not how the system was designed to work.

okie dokie....asked, answered, and fully understood :-)....despite my chest cold. Now I'm off to bed to hopefully give my body a chance to beat this disgusting bug.

(achoo!)

-Julie

Get well soon! (And have somebody make you some good chicken noodle soup!!!)

I might add another suggestion as those seed orders start rolling in. Check PF for them. If they are there fill in the info, if not add them. It makes a great reference for your own use. Come next summer when those plants are blooming away, you already have an entry ready to add a photo.

This message was edited Jan 14, 2005 6:55 PM

Thanks Mystic, good idea.

Here are a couple of my favorite online catalogs...

http://ww.superseeds.com

http://www.seedsofchange.com

http://www.territorial-seed.com

http://www.seedsavers.org

Sounds like the PF are getting an extreme makeover ;~)

Thanks for those links, TamaraFaye! There are so many companies out there, even on the Garden Watchdog, that any personal recommendation really helps. Much appreciated! :-)

~Shannon, in sunny (but wait five minutes....) Gatineau