You know you've become a PF addict when...

Your plant shopping list for next spring consists of plants you've decided you want because they don't yet have a picture in PF.

Good thing I have 5 acres to play with. LOL

Joan - I am just the other way, I love DLs but I dont like to get any that are not in the plant files! That way I know for sure what I am getting (not that online anyone touches up their photos or anything . .. )

Mitch

I know I'm hooked. I made my spring planting list before my Christmas list. With the budget tight, I think I am going to have to shave a few things off both lists. I love trying new plants. I wish I had more garden space. I am amazed how the same plant will take on an uniqueness from different soils, weather conditions and age of the plant. We moved recently and I brought a few plants from our old yard and planted them here and they are different. I think the plant files are a guide but I know that each plant, like each person is unique.

Mitch, I like to see the pictures too, that's why I want to plant some plants that don't have pictures yet, so I can get photos for plantfiles. :) I even got rid of lots of my iris this year so I can plant different cultivars. Strange way of gardening, I know. LOL

KristaJoy, I'm making my plant shopping list for next spring too, and haven't even thought about making a Christmas shopping list yet. I'm hoping my checkbook will be healed up from Christmas by the time spring comes around.

Joan it is people like you that make people like me have great gardens!

Funny my Christmas list is the DL list that I have picked through the Plant Files!

Mitch

Naw, I haven't submitted that many pictures. I really appreciate all the pictures that have been submitted, and would like to see at least one for each cultivar. Wouldn't that be great?

It used to be a factor in which species or cultivar I chose when faced with too many plants not enough cash. These days it's a bit harder with so many new entries each day, I might come home and find the photo or entry had been added that day, it wouldn't be the first time. Trouble is I then get them home and sometimes don't take a photo and then get very cross with myself when the plant has gone over and I've not submitted anything *G*

Hah now you know my secret. I have been known to not pass a plant by weather I like it or not if I know we don't have a picture in PF. I need to learn to take my camera with me more so I can get pictures at places and not buy the plants. :)

Joan welcome to the club. PF really is addictive.

Ah...thanks for your replies Baa and Mystic. I now know that this is just a stepping stone of the addiction, since you both seem to have it too. LOL Kinda like a crossword puzzle that you can't quit until all the blanks are filled in.

I never think to carry a camera with me. I've thumped myself in the head many times because of that. I think a small digital that would fit nicely in my purse might be a good thing to put on my Christmas wishlist. :)

I confess, I do the same thing, Joan. I have even purchased seeds for my little greenhouse business with a photo op in mind! One year, I had 24 azalea pots of different violas set aside just for pictures and seeds! I won't usually add a plant to the PF if I don't have a photo to go along with it. However, I never post a pic without filling in the data.

Another PF addict signs in. Hi Weezie!

Well, I do add plants without a picture because I remember reading a post Terry made about some people will willingly add a photo if the entry is already there. (I'm hoping some photos will be added for those on my spring shopping list.) Makes elimination easier.

Baa, I have been thinking about what you said about not taking a photo and then finding the bloom season has passed without getting a photo for PF. That happened to me with lots of plants this year and I've banged my head against the house for all of them.

Good point, Joan. I guess I'm just an instant gratification kinda PFer... love the photos. Of course, we don't get to see them posted right away, but the photos always seem to come before the posting.

Sometimes I have a picture I want to post, but when I go into the PF, there are 10 other photos, and some are similar to mine or just better, so I don't post. I try to get photos that offer something new, but it doesn't always happen.

I've often stopped at adding pics to the PlantFiles when I saw similar ones to what I've taken.

I am beginning to think, though, that showing good (and even similar) pics in different zones does not constitute a 'duplication', but enhances the entry. It's like saying, "Hey, it was gorgeous in Zone X, but look at this lovely in Zone Y". :)

Signed,
Donna, another PF addict

I looked up something in PF the other day and got totally frustrated. It had the name, period. No info. or pictures. Can't remember what it was, but that kind of entry seems pointless. I get confused sometimes when the pictures that are entered look very different from each other.

That drives me crazy, too, 1gardengram. If I have time, I do some research and fill in the blanks. If I don't, I copy the web address to a temporary word doc I've got on my desktop, so that I can link back to it when I have more time. The PF is member fed, so if all of us would add data when we can, we wouldn't have to look at blank pages anymore.

That part is good about being able to add and fill in the blanks. But if you are researching, it's not helpful. ;^)

I agree that it's not helpful when you are researching to find an entry that's incomplete, but when you find the information you are looking for, you can come back and add it into PF. That would be one more entry that's done, and there are many that still need details filled in.

Donna, I have not added photos because they are similar to others already in there, but then sometimes I want it in there so bad that I submit it anyway. Sometimes it proves that a plant can do very well in a colder climate. I guess it depends on how much I like the plant and photo whether I submit a photo that's similar to others already submitted.

Joan, you're so right about it depending on the photo. Sometimes I'm just excited and want to add it. On occasion, I've gone back through my photos and recommended some of them for deletion because they don't seem to offer much to the entry. I figure it makes it easier for admin if I suggest it, rather than their having to bring it up!

It always seems I come across incomplete entries when I'm in the midst of a project, and if I start researching the info to complete the entry, I'm off in another direction. I find it difficult to type and chew gum these days... age limits multi-tasking! That's why I cut and past the URL for the entry and return when I have time to spend on it.

Otherwise, I pick a genus and go through as many entries as I can. I usually pick something I am familiar with... such as Dianthus. I look for duplicate entries, missing data, possible errors, including typos, and consistant common names that help link them when searched.

But, I have to say, my very favorite thing is to add photos, especially when it is the first photo entered. I feel like I've made a great contribution, since the photos mean so much to me when I'm researching. I guess I think it is the same for others.

Weeze, I like your idea of cut and pasting the url of an incomplete plant into word document or something and return to it when time permits. I may steal your idea if that's okay.

I know what you mean about going off in all different directions. LOL I find myself doing that too, and in an effort to try to not lose sight of my original task, I have MANY different windows open. Then I get tired, and am ready to go to bed, but I have all these windows open with unfinished tasks going on. I feel like I need to finish them up so I don't lose tract of what I was doing once I close them all out. Cutting and pasting them to another document to finish up the next day is a great idea.

Good grief, Joan! I swear you have been looking over my shoulder as I doze off in front of my computer after a warm bath before bedtime. Sometimes closing all those windows makes me whiney, much less trying to continue the work! Yes, the document seems to work. I just open the doc, click on a link, and I can start to work. When my brain gets too full, I can quit. Gosh, maybe I shouldn't have confessed I doze and drool on my keyboard every night!

LOL. You are not alone. I've almost knocked myself out when my head slips off my hand that's supporting it and hits the desk. Die hards, aren't we?

Yup! I've roused from a computer snooze to find my finger on the mouse has caused all sorts of havoc while I dozed. When I wake up, I just want to toddle off to bed, but I have many many windows to close and lots of things to save before I do.

I agree empty entries are one of my pet peeves. Like the rest of you I get mad when I go to look a plant up and get there and it's empty. That's why PF is so great you can fill in the info once you track it down. So next year when you want the same info it will be here.

Photos I love and like to add them. I think it was Baa ( I didn't scroll back up to check.) " You go to post them and somebody else already did". There is nothing wrong with posting a photo if there is another one already there. Look for different aspects of the plant in question to take photos of. I know I have 100's of hems and don't add them if there are already several pics of it. Sometimes I can get a pic of several blooms all at once instead of just the one single bloom. Just think to yourself when you look at the pics already there am I showing something nobody else did.

I only said that because everyone else seems to take beter photos than I do, also if there are already photos of a particular plant part I don't see the need to add more of the same unless there is some difference. Since my photos aren't of any quality, mine are more likely to be deleted when we get around to cleaning up entires anyway.

Baa, it seems you have lots of good photos in the PF, and in some cases yours is the only photo for an entry. I've been trying to get photos of the seedheads, etc, on plants that have many other entries... as you say, something different. Many of my photos have my chubby hands in them, but I feel that they offer a comparison in size and a quick backdrop when necessary.

My camera goes with me everywhere...and it's big and heavy...with extra lenses. They even know what it is in the grocery store!

But I've been working on natives this past summer and my addiction goes so far as to make hubby let me off on the side of the road when I spy a plant I don't have. He then drives up and down the road, turning around in driveways while I climb down into ditches to get closer to the plant.

This has led to several bouts with chiggers this summer, but I get some great shots!

For those who have seen several similar images in the PF, but would like to contribute...think 'outside the box'....we need leaves(undersides too), stem joints, seed pods,seeds, roots. This is especially important when trying to identify a weed or native plant. I've gone on many searches just looking for a good shot of foliage so I can identify something...and it's nowhere on the web! If something is fuzzy or has a texture, try to get a shot of that...if it's has a hollow stem, get that too...or if it has a milky sap.

I generally try to take a picture of the seeds in my open hand...this gives the viewer a perspective that they can relate to. There's so many things you can do with a single plant besides submitting an image of the bloom. Fall foliage, spring emergance, seedlings,...the list is unlimited...and sorely needed.

Good points Mel. I wish I would have thought about fall foliage pictures before the leaves all fell off.

I'm asking for a small camera for Christmas. One that will fit in my purse to carry with me and not be so heavy. It seems I never have a camera with me when I need it.

All good points. It's tempting to only take pictures of the lovely blooms, but many other features can determine identification of a plant, including habit. I good, clear picture of a plant's growth habit is helpful, too. How I plant changes with the seasons is important, too.

Weez and Joan are right...blooms are important, but like they said, a good clear shot of a mature plant is priceless. Bark of trees...mature, and saplings, catkins, inmature buds, are important for an i.d.

For vines, the type of tendril is important..(clasping or twining) seed heads in various stages of maturity. Young vines sometimes look different than the mature, woody, older ones...the list is endless.

With veggies, think about the flower as well as the fruit. Many beans and peas have lovely, unique flowers, and it can help identify a variety if they are included. The leaves, vines and stalks are usually forgotten also..these are important image opportunities. Seedlings and inmature fruits would be a great addition...lots of possibilities with veggies.

There's so much beyond the bloom that the PF needs. There are many databses for plants, but very few include the whole life cycle.

You are sooo right, melody!

hi there new member today and 1st post... thought this might be a good start to ask if anyone could recommend garden software for journaling or archiving their gardens?

Welcome stangetz! There are a couple of journal options that are available to you right here at DG. One is a diary/blog type of program and the other is more involved and detailed. They are available to any member, and there is a forum dedicated just to using them. You can ask questions there and get answers from the Admin. and members who love to help.

I don't use mine like I should, but many members have extensive records and have wonderful journals. You have the option of making your journal public or private too.

As far as software that you purchase for the purpose...someone else will have to answer with a favorite...I can't even keep up with what I've got here. I'm not very good at keeping a diary.