Suggestion: Upper Midwest Regional Forum?

Well, I would rather that you all come to a consensus on your own...

LOL & LOL

HOW did I know you'd say *that*? :-D
~julie~

I'm not going to quote myself, but scroll up to 9:44am. That might be a way to start, and it is a compromise too.

I'm in the northern edge of what should be the midwest. I would not have anything in comman with Canada or Vermont. I think you forget the zone business & concentrate on a region. I think somebody in Germany was in Zone 4 also, do we anything in comman with them?
Like I mentioned before use the corn belt states as a region. New England & Mid-Atlantic can do theirs. Michigan & Canada & I don't know who else already have their own forums.
Bernie

I'm not closely familiar with the Mid-West & Northwest zones, but would estimate - & this is just my opinion based on travels/experience/gardening friends that the Carolinas & south are pretty much the "Southeast" (although I think North Carolina can go either way), North Carolina north to say including Maryland and whereabouts is "Mid-Atlantic", above Maryland/Delaware/PA to say Connecticut is "Northeast", & Connecticut & above to Canada is "New England".

People living in the "cusp" states would have more than one regional forum to play in, obviously, as many areas crossover gardening-wise.

Thats just how I've always thought of it, although obviously that's not "official" or arrived at scientifically.

This message was edited Oct 23, 2005 1:03 PM

I just went through entire forum list, Besides Canada & Michigan, Texas,California, Florida, & Europe have their own forum. Lets get going on the Midwest Forum! We are getting left behind.
Bernie

Here is how Michigan went about getting theirs.
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/485350/
Bernie

Hi sounds like a good idea to me I'm in I'm sure it will help all that fall in the 4-5 zone thanks for asking me ............Thank You Sharon

Ok, didn't read all the posts, but I will say that I support a forum for those of us in the upper midwest. I am also 4b-5a (tho more 4b to be safe, I guess.) Count me in.

Gee Bernie...after reading that thread, it looks like we might have missed the boat, eh? Maybe we could have gotten the Michiganders to expand their 'region' to include US too! But then...we wouldn't be here today, would we. LOL

Do we need to start a differest suggestion thread for each region?
(julie DUCKS and RUNS!)
=D

~julie~

How specific do we need to be, can't we just call it Midwest or something? We sure aren't going to kick anyone in the teeth for joining in who might be borderline??? Let's get it done so we can play!! LOL Legit

I guess the question is do you all want forums to include particular gardening Zones so that your northern neighbours can be included or do you want US State forums which some have already been started like Michigan, Florida, California and Texas or do you want Country forums like we have the Canadian and European forums?

I vote keeping things regional, such as a Midwest forum, and all those who feel they fit in, jump in!

edited for wierd spelling syndrome, blush

This message was edited Oct 23, 2005 2:09 PM

I, personally, don't think the zones are nearly as important as the geographical location. If, for instance, the Northern "midwest" (as defined by the USNA) is considered as a 'region' it would include zones 2b through 6a. Granted that is a pretty wide stretch. But I think most of us could at least go to that regional forum, ask our question or post some idea that we have, knowing that the readers in that forum would understand what we're dealing with.

Merigold...I'm with you! :-) People will find where they 'fit in'.

~julie~

I remember reading that someone volunteered to monitor the forum. Is that nessisary?Does each forum have a monitor?
laurawege

Lets line up our ducks.
I vote for "Midwest Forum"
Bernie

Midwest Forum sounds excellent to me - anyone can participate anyway. There are definitely areas in Canada that fit the Midwest climate, I grew up in one, just a bit NE of Toronto and there are quite a few others in z4-5 of southern Ontario. We do get a bit more extremes here in IA, especially with the almost constant wind and usually less snow. The gardening is quite a bit the same tho.

OK, I'll quote Gayle ~

Moby...I think my idea of the 'midwest' (or the northern part thereof) is bit more restrictive than yours is. LOL NO way do my friends in Texas have the same kind of growing conditions I have. And, even though I did grow up in Oklahoma, I doubt if I could help them with their gardening.

Don't get me wrong...As much as people move around these days, I'm sure that there are a lot of gardeners in the southern Mid-west who have experience with gardening in our climate...and I certainly wouldn't want to exclue them just because their zone in the Member ID bax says Zone 8. LOL

~julie~

Perhaps I was thinking a bit outside the box....circular, actually. ;) This is a bit more what I meant ~ (sorry, this was the best I could do ~ couldn't find a decent map with each state and Canada too.)

The main point is that it's an 'area' with no hard lines, and can have Texas-like to Canadian-like weather.

Hey! I'm in the exact center of your circle!
That's just a bit more than I suggested way back early in this thread.
My circle would be a little smaller is all.
Bernie

Bernie, of course you are, dear! ;)

Having lived in Minnesota for 15 years of my adult life, I can honestly say that the weather conditions are not entirely different. It's about only about 10° colder there, at any given time. The biggest difference is the length of the seasons. As you well know, winter seems like it's about 7 months long.

Though Minnesota can get a ton of snow, I've also experienced more than one 'brown Christmas' there. And in the summer it can be un-Godly hot and humid. And boy, do you do need to watch for those mosquitoes that can carry away small children!

Got any lefse? :) Thanks, 'ey

PS Julie ~ that's the best I could do with my Paint program ~ can't go outside the graphics to include more of Canada and so then couldn't alter the bottom side of the circle. But like I said, it's just an "area", and participation is purely optional.

This message was edited Oct 23, 2005 4:10 PM

No, just German tater salad & Kraut!
Last winter we sat by the TV watching you guys getting all the snow. We didn't have enough at one time to do any snowmobiling.
Bernie

So, once again Ohio is left out...I tried to get us into the Mid-south (possible) Forum and they didn't want us either!

Seems to me we are split. Regional forums or Zonal forums?

I vote for Zonal forums rather than Regional. Example: When first selecting my watched forums under 'My Preferences', I never even considered selecting the Michigan forum as I just assumed it was based on region rather than zones/weather....because of the name.

With all due respect to Dave, saying that Canada has their own forum is rather like saying the U.S. has their own forum. Canada isn't a region. Our regions are The Pacific Coast, The Prairies, The Canadian Shield, The Great Lakes, Maritimes and Arctic Lowlands.

I've met some wonderful people from places other than Canada and I've learned about interesting places and it's definitely expanded my own little 'world of gardening'. Maybe regionalized forums for Canada is in Dave's plans for the site and that would be way cool, but right now I wouldn't want to exclude any potential friends from other countries just because they didn't put a checkmark in the 'such-and-such-region' box.

Zonal forums would be a way to create a place of commonality yet non-segregational, if you see what I mean.

Where is White Lake ?

LOL tabasco ~ please read my post again! (that part about the limitations of my Paint program) I think you surely fit in the "midwest forum".

Sanannie ~ though I'm unfamiliar with your weather, wouldn't you liken it to MN / WI and MI?

We do need Ohio. Who would want to miss out on the goings-on there! At least part of Ohio is considered "Corn Belt".
Bernie

sounds like a great idea--count me in Cheryl

OK, I tried something different. How's this one?

I see I've got my work cut out for me. There should be two regionals for the SE section.

South-East US Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina,
South Carolina, Tennessee

With the exception of Florida, there should be a north and south region of Alabama, Georgia, and Mississippi. The north should include NC, SC, and TN. The south should include FL. Because of the altitude variances, these regions are vastly different. When you take into account the mountains, there are even more differences, but these are the two major differences.

Bernie - White Lake is just outside of Ottawa in eastern Ontario, right along the border of Quebec.

Moby - yes indeed I would liken our weather to MN/WI and MI.... but I guess my point was in the naming of the forums. Like naming it, e.g 'Midwest', would possibly exclude people, especially new members, who might think the forum was for people only from the Midwest...so they wouldn't bother signing up to watch that forum. For us Canadians, we have our own regional names and 'Midwest' is definitely an American term. That's all I was trying to say.

This is getting quite complicated-- LOL Thanks for gerrymandering the line to include Ohio--most thoughtful!

Well, in Cincinnati at least we eat Brats and Sauerkraut! Will that help us qualify for the mid-west forum? We eat frog legs and catfish, too, so we could be in the mid-south forum, I think, too. Don't you? No lefse here though.

But we may want our own Ohio River Valley Region Forum with our neighbor states.... http://www.fws.gov/orve/images/refmap.jpg How about that?

And I do like to read the Canadian discussion--they are excellent gardeners--so would we have to choose one to "belong" to, have a sponsor or something...

Isn't it great there is so much diversity on Dave's? I love it.

The NC mountains are more like Ohio or even NY state than the mid-south.

I agree Darius, we have several different areas.

How about we just do this on a block by block basis? I'll go talk to my neighbors LOL

I can't say I like regional forums but I've already said that some time ago. I really don't like the idea of zone forums, it says zone 9a next to my user name but trust me, we have very little in common other than average minimum winter temperature with other zone 9a regions. I still prefer the climate grouping forums.

Perennial Girl, you said this above "or do you want Country forums like we have the Canadian and European forums"

You probably didn't mean it that way, so please forgive me for being literal, but I feel I ought to mention, Europe isn't a country (yet), despite the best efforts of the EU :)

Talking of which is the European forum the only forum to have expanded from a politically based union (UK) to include a much larger region, in our case, an entire continent? Not complaining, we're a small bunch anyway, just curious.

The Ohio valley looks like it belongs together. Also Eastern Ontario, Quebec & upstate New York should work.
I still say you have to get the zone thing out of this discussion. I know we can't grow things they can even in Missouri. And we are not that far apart, but during the growing season all levels out, with only difference is the number of frost free days. Sometimes that isn't much either.
The eastern Great Lakes area has a vastly different climate, even though they are Zone 4 or 5.
What about rainfall ? This midwest area is in the 20 to 35 inch per year. Other areas vary greatly.
What I am trying to say, is if you use to big of area, we would be defeating the purpose of regional forums, may as well not have any special ones as far as climate goes.
Bernie

julie,

You said a mouthful there,,,,both about the can and the words one chooses,,,,See how we all are???? LOL

We could get really indepth by saying we should have a Zone 4a Forum, a Zone 4b Forum, a Zone 5a Forum with microclimates in each of those Forums and such,,,,,or stay relatively simple. My vote is for simple. I know my gardening climate is not the same in zone 4a where I now live, as it was in 5a where I grew up. By keeping it simply an Upper Midwest Forum, anyone who feels they fit in that category can participate.

We still have all of the specialized Forums that we all participate in where there are other gardeners from our individual regions/zones. Such as Hostas, Irises, Orchids, Bulbs and so on and so on. I know I don't fit into the Texas Forum and would not participate. Likewise the member in Alabama would not want to participate in an Upper Midwest Forum.

It's not like there are any definite rules about who can participate in which forum (at least I don't know of any). We all go to the Forum that we feel best suits the situation at hand.

Let's keep it simple.

Kelly