PlantFiles Challenge - down to the wire!

This is the last week of our winter challenge, which ends at midnight on February 28!

If you haven't yet found an entry to "adopt" there's still time (hurry!) - remember, the idea is to complete the details for existing entries - height, hardiness, bloom time, etc.

To-date, 239 DG members have checked off nearly 156,000 details. Sixteen members have checked off more than 1,000 details each; four have checked off more than 10,000 details each (there are some smokin' keyboards out there!)

Just as importantly - over 100 members have checked off anywhere from one to ten details. Remember, each detail you check off increases your chances for winning a randomly-drawn prize.

Accuracy is crucial so please be sure you complete only the sections you can verify the data. (Plant and seed catalogs are often a good source of information, as are several internet sites and reference books - Sunset's Western Garden Book, Southern Living's Garden Book, the AHS and RHS encyclopedias, Botanica's encyclopedia, etc.)

Let's see if we can hit 200K details - easy to do if everyone pitches in and adopts a plant (or two or three!) Having trouble finding an adoptee? Here's a tool that will help you locate a plant that needs some TLC: http://davesgarden.com/pf/tools/incomplete.php

Wonderful prizes have been donated by some very generous companies, so if you're motivated by the thrill of being eligible for free seeds and plants, don't delay! Pick an entry and help make it complete!!!
Questions? Feel free to ask!

I tried. I tried really hard for a few days. Then I fell off the wagon and had to get back to life! LOL Many kudos to those of you plugging away to fill in the information.

I will do at least one, being that I've benefitted from others having done this, I should be a good girl and do my share, huh!. Not promising any wagon rides, so nothing to fall off of, but I am sure I can manage at least one.

I can't seem to get any farther down the list alphabetically than the "c"s, though.

There are several cultivars in the lettuce family that need some help: Lactuca sativa

Also, there are a lot of allium entries that could use some TLC.

Well, and geranium, helianthus, heuchera, morning glories (ipomoea), and on and on... ;) Find something you like, then research it a little. Next thing you know, you'll be hooked and wanting to complete more entries. At least I find it very addicting. :)

Heck, we don't need a contest to fix things, anyway, right? If we look up info on a plant and it doesn't have any, we can do a little research and fill it in. If we don't have the time, we can cut and paste the web address, add it to a Word doc, and do it later. I've got a list going for a later date.

absolutely!

I did mine! Then I did another one! It IS fun!

I am trying to go back through a bunch of plants I entered last year and add whatever details I can find to them. Most of the plants are obscure, so it's taking a lot of time.

I don't need to cut and paste anything into a Word doc. All I need to do is look up the plants I have already entered and I have plenty of work there for me to do. I thought I was doing a good thing by adding the plants to the PF, but in my haste, I didn't add any details, so now I'm having to plod through them and add what I can. Hindsight.... ugghhhhh.....

I woove you carla, those were beautiful words I've been waiting to hear.
And, by the way, I've been tracking your phenominal progress and my money is on you winning.

I also picked up on one. Winning the contest is just not important but accuracy of info is! The plantfiles are not currently "state of the art" for completeness.

This message was edited Feb 26, 2005 7:46 PM

This message was edited Feb 26, 2005 7:47 PM

kikisdad, What do you think needs to be changed for the PF to become more accurate? If you see any errors, you know how to report them, right?

~Carla

I'm trying--I really am. I find it difficult negotiating through the pages of the list. When I click on "next page", I get almost the same list as the previous page. It's really slow and plodding trying to get through the list to find something I have info for.

Does anyone else have this problem, or is it just my computer?

--Rhonda

It's very hard for me to work with a latin name in finding info for random plants. Finding reference material first, then look from there to add details works better for me. I am a novice, and latin is not as important or easy to me at 58 as it was at 35.
I try to post where I'm familiar only, with help from books.
My contribution isn't but a drop in the bucket and I can live with that.
This has been a great addition to our DG.
Thanks to all you hard workers.
Sidney

I use split screen to transfer info I find on the web. I check out several sites before adding it the PF, since the web can be wrong, wrong, wrong. When I have a hard copy reference, I use that too.

Emaewest: I think I know what you mean. Your updates to the info will not instantly appear when you go back to add the next information, so it is confusing sometimes. Pictures will not appear until Admin reviews them. At my age, memory is not one of my finer points (58 here, too, Sidney!). When you post a new plant, you have the option to fill in all the info at once, but when revisited, you don't.

Sugarweed: When you look at the number of members we have, all those small contributions add up to a wealth of information. Just clicking on the Regional button is very helpful, when you can let people know this plant is successful in your area.

Weez - I use multiple screens, too. I may have two DG screens up and two different other pages up at the same time. I just bop back and forth to get what I need.

I also research each plant with a variety of sources. Baa told me not to rely on nurseries so much, but to look for the educational sites (like universities). I use botanical gardens for back up information, too, when they have what I'm looking for. Barnes and Noble also has some of my money as I invested in a couple of huge reference books. :)

Yep, same here! My husband let me go into Borders Books alone one day... big mistake... I came out with a copy of A-Z of Garden Plants! I also have a copy of Flora of Alaska, and lots of others. When in doubt about a cultivar, I usually check the Royal Horticultural Society database. You've got to be a real detective to fill in those blanks!

I knew you had to have many good techniques Carla. Maybe a computer class is my first step.
I haven't done enough myself to justify anything but I can still appreciate how hard others have worked and say so.
Can't seem to find a bookie that will take my bet on this contest. LOL

I've also been here for almost 4 years, so I've learned a lot from my fellow gardeners here. Farmerdill has been very helpful to me in learning about veggies among other things, as have Melody, Mystic, Baa, Terry, Jody, Poppysue, Floridian, Xenomorf, Palmbob, and on and on. So many people with so much knowledge.

I am pretty good with my computer but can'r figure out how to do split screen! I must be missing something.

Terry, something that bugs me when I'm trying to complete an entry is this...

When the "spacing" field hasn't been filled in and I look it up and find that spacing is "indefinite", there's no way to complete that field as the "more than 40ft" option isn't exactly accurate either. Is it possible to add an "indefinite" option to this field? Please? :-)

-Julie

Oceangirl,

I suppose the correct terminology isn't split screen, but rather multiple windows.

> I am pretty good with my computer but can'r figure out how to do split screen! I must be missing something.

Try right clicking on a link and see if "Open in New Window" appears.

Did something happen to the PF in the last 8 hours? When I went to bed last night I had 383 details.....this morning I have 380. What gives?

-Julie

Julie, my guess is that someone corrected something in one of your entries, but I have no way of knowing who or what. (The helpdesk queue is overflowing, and it would take a month of Sundays to figure out which error report referenced one of your entries.)

I'm not sure I understand why we would need an "indefinite" for spacing - for any given plant, there should be some ideal range of spacing that will allow the plant to fill in to its natural size and not overcrowd its neighbors. If spacing is not given for a particular plant, it can usually be estimated from images and its specified mature height....(then again, I may be missing something ;o)

WHAT? You're accusing me of making a mistake???? ROTFL!! ;-) Okay, I get it.....fair enough LOL.

The "indefinite" is because many of my sources say "indefinite". I have no way of knowing if that means it can go on to Antarctica or if it means it will fill up the garden or just spread out a few feet or what? The AHS A-Z EofGP uses "indefinite" a lot for creeping plants. Also, some plants' growth depends on things around it. For example, Ephedra aphylla that I've recently added to the PF. It grows to a one meter compact bush if in an open field or next to low growing plants. But if grown next to a tree, it will grow to the height of that tree....no matter how tall that tree grows. So it would be best to have an "indefinite" option here for height or spacing and then one can give an explanatory note in addition in the notes section. Also some creeping plants like creeping ivies can grow and grow and grow and grow.....not much limit to some of them. They just grow to the space given them. So I agree with the EofGP that "indefinite" is the best description for the growth of some plants.

But that's just my 2cents worth ;-)

-Julie

Indefinite just means they don't know and it's incorrect too because all plants have a finite measurement.

Spoken like a true botanist, Baa. :)

I have to agree that some plants seem to grow on forever, like some of the ivies and even the pachysandra I planted at my parent's house. No end in sight to how far it's going to spread. But, I'm sure there is a limit. We just haven't reached it yet. hee hee

In terms of the PF, though, we can make pretty good estimates of most plants based on their past performance under typical growing conditions.

The AHS A-Z lists Lamium maculatum as having a 3 ft. spread. The prostrate stems of my plants can continue on forever. Is each new rooting considered a new plant? Is the spacing based on the size of the original plant's actual growth and spread from the roots?

see, this is why i leave so many "spacing" checkboxes unchecked ;-) ROTFL....

-Julie

Well, I'd have to agree with Baa - it's frustrating for a reliable reference book or nursery to give a coy answer like "indefinite" for spacing. If you were buying and planting the plant, wouldn't you expect them to provide you with some guidelines on whether it should be planted 6 inches, 6 feet, or 6 yards from everything else in your garden?

Terry, we are getting down to the wire now. What are the stats? Are we going to get the 200K? Can you tell how many entries have been completely filled in during the contest?

Peggy, the final stats and the random drawing and prize awards will have to wait after the challenge ends.

I don't have a total count of entries that were completed during the challenge, but I'm sure many, many were. It doesn't look like we'll hit 200K, though - right now we're at 178,873 details checked off (which is a very respectable number ;o)

Terry you answered what I was wanting to know how close are we to 200K.
Heck still looks good to me. Thats allot of details marked off.

Everybody has done a great job and we appreciate everything you have done.Everybody working together like this is what makes PF so special.

Soooooooooo? I'm dying to know :-) Who won? I'm also dying to know who those 4 members are who entered more than 10,000 details each! All 4 of them deserve a big prize!

For everyone who entered details for the challenge, WAY TO GO! :-)

I've made a new resolution. For every day that I log on to DG, I've got to enter at least one detail, image, note or whatever to the PF. :-)

-Julie

Unfortunately, I was unaware of the challenge until late in the game and decided that I wasn't going to try to win the contest. I chose to fill in details of plants that are not familiar to most people (as well as myself) and tried to totally complete each entry which took a lot of time and research. I hope that the list of plants with incomplete entries wll remain available so we are able to keep working on them even though the contest is over. Thanks to everyone else who also took the time to contribute to the database and who added such valuable information.

Well, my money is on Mystic (unless she has for some odd reason been excluded because she's a PF editor....which I think shouldn't matter :-). If Mystic is out, then it has to be Carla (Smiln32). Unless of course, someone else became an "UBER" during the course of the month LOL. But WOW OH WOW Mystic....your fingers must be aching! I'm STUNNED! And Carla....WAY TO GO to you too! Wooohoooo!

Can't wait to find out who the others are who entered so many details this month :-)

-Julie

My money is on Mystic, too. Farmerdill is also a PF animal!!! :)

Actually....I'm still at it, contest or not. I set some goals for myself and like just a bit having those completed......and then there's the spring trees, shrubs and grasses that need to be documented. So many of our trees bloom and set fruit before the leaves show, and those are images that are lacking in the PF. Buds are starting to swell and there's a whole forest of Oaks, Hickories, Maples, and tons of other hardwoods that need their life cycle shown.

This is a hint gang...there's lots of work to be done, and lots of it is happening right now...I'm going to be busy for awhile and could use some help with the trees.

I'm not planning on quitting, either. I may not keep up the same pace, though. :)

DEAR DAVE...

lol... will you please.... PLEASE... post the results of this contest.

i want my life back.

TuttiFrutti keeps bugging me about if i've seen any postings as to the results... she is constantly looking for any new thread. if she logs off, i have to check.

its getting out of hand i tell ya...

HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP!!!!!