Negatives in the PF

I figure in the end the "laws of large numbers" will prevail: if a plant is overall a "good 'un" , the majority of ratings will reflect that favorable assessment. If it's not, it'll show up as a stinker. But the only way to reach that sort of critical mass is for people to not be afraid to weigh in, whether their opinion of the plant is a rave or a rant.

Maybe the invasive advisories should be accompanied by a little detail. For instance, most of us don't care if something's invasive to the point of taking over a corner of a flower bed, or reseeding lavishly, as long as the surplus is easy to remove. In some cases, however, a plant grows beyond one garden, starts devouring the entire neighborhood, and seems impossible to kill. That kind of detail is valuable, I think. We have that problem with Arum in my neighborhood, and I think a lot of people don't know that about Arum.

By the way, Paul: I have many, many lilacs in my garden, and they never fail to bloom every year. All of my neighbors also have lilacs that bloom. In fact, all of Sonoma County is full of lilacs, and we're in zones 9a and 9b, so there must be something beyond temperatures that makes them bloom. We have extremely rainy winters. Could that be a contributing factor?

I have 3 Lilacs in my garden that bloom beautifully every year, and smell so good I have people stop and ask which ones they are so they can get them...three years runnning!! So while Paulwhwest(just using your comment as an example..:) ok?) may have an experience that he hypothetically could post to PF about no Lilacs growing and/or blooming in zone 8 as he stated above, my hypothetical post would have a very different experience...neither of us would be wrong - although one could post a neg and one a positive....people can then decide for themselves what they want to do with that info. I think we all can look past, ignore, or poss report as error if needed the relatively small percentage of posts that bother, and simply enjoy the great diversity of opinion and experiences we find on this GREAT site the vast majority of the time...

Really interesting thread, so many posts were so good I read this thread twice...LOL :)

Happy Gardening All!!
Jamie

Well, I guess I won't give up on my Lilac yet then. Maybe the reason it hasn't bloomed isn't temperature related after all (I hope it isn't!). I think that illustrates the point I was trying to make pretty well though: I planted a Lilac and I knew it was old enough to bloom because when I first got it in the spring it already had buds on it, but it didn't bloom for me next year.

I figured that I had just been gullible to believe the advertising that suggested it would bloom in zone 8 because I've always heard that it has to reach a low temp during the winter and that they wouldn't bloom this far south. Maybe they really won't bloom in this area of Texas, but my assumption that it was purely the temperature was wrong, so, as you can see, I'll never get away with saying that. ;-)

Interesting ...interesting...interesting..

Re the negatives: I find them helpful (and have even written one about my nemesis Oxalis crassipes 'Alba') if they are written in a balanced way. I like reading about different people's experiences with a plant, and realize that I might have a very different experience due to zone, heat, soil, personal preference, etc. A negative rating for a plant I'm interested in usually just causes me to do more research about the plant's characteristics and habits. It can be frustrating or annoying to see a negative rating for a plant I love, but I'm willing to pay that price to hear other people's viewpoints. It's part of the territory, I guess. :-)

Re the lilacs: Just wanted to say that in the Wayside Catalog, some of their lilacs are noted as being better for mild or Southern gardens. Most of their lilacs go up to Zone 7, but 'Lavender Lady,' S. patula 'Miss Kim,' and S. meyeri go up to Zone 8 and S. vulgaris 'Blue Skies' goes up to Zone 9 (and is said to "flower reliably season after season in the south"). There is a note on the page that says they've found that Lavender Lady and Blue Skies perform best in the South. Hope this helps! (I think I may just give Blue Skies a try -- it's gorgeous!)

Yep, 'Lavender Lady' and 'Blue Skies' were the two I considered; 'Lavender Lady' is the one I got, but so far I'm not too impressed. We'll see what it does in the next couple years I guess...

I've decided not to look at peoples negatives around here ANYMORE!!!! LOL LOL

These negatives have steered me away and later found that the plant is great! Then I found some plants with great reviews and I'm not impressed.

That's a good reason to add your own $0.02 worth to each plant you grow. A plant that is awful for one person might be great for you--your experience helps "balance the scales" for others.

Vice-versa; a plant that was rated excellent by others might not do well for you, and your words of caution can make someone think twice ;o)

Yessssss...I'm going to just start taking chances. But sometimes I see the negative and steer away..There is one plant in paticular I have and the PF says it's not hardy and I don't want to loose it. Terrified to leave it outside...But I just recently got a note from someone it comes back faithfully every year (same zone as me).

I find the negatives helpful too. That siad, I do take into consideration the rater's zone, their stated needs/expectations for the plant, and whether or not their negative might be a positive for me (i.e. if someone complains about a plant spreading and I have a large area that I need a plant to fill, maybe that negative will work just fine for me).