Need help adding to tradelist and/or plantfiles

Often when I try adding something to my tradelist that isn't in Plantfiles, I can't get it to say what I want. For example I tried to add lilium - trumpet lily "regale" and this is what I ended up with:

Lilium
Did you mean: Ortega? (Correct)
Did you mean: Montreal? (Correct)
Did you mean: Crete? (Correct)
Did you mean: No cultivar? (Correct)
Chinese trumpet lily "regale". no extras yet. 'regale'

How can I fix this without deleting my entry entirely?
I have more lilies to enter - a few asiatics and I couldn't get it to say asiatic. It also seems that if the cultivar wasn't previously listed, it will give you a choice of no cultivar or another with a similar name. I'd also like to add some to plantfiles, but can't find all of the required info.
Any help much appreciated!!!! I find this very frustrating.

No idea but I'll bump your thread

Thanks tmbolin! I really could use help with this!

For adding info to Plant Files, look up something similar and use the same info.
For example Regale wasn't in the files, so I looked at "Pink Perfection" for the name of the family.

Common Name: Trumpet Lily
Family: Liliaceae
Genus: Lilium
Species: LEFT BLANK
Cultivar Name: Regale

Re: the Tradelist.
It looks like if it isn't in the Plant filess, then the listing under the Plant Name will give the extraneous "Did you mean: XXX".

I'd contact an administrator to see if there is a workaround. Alternatively you can update the PlantFiles.

ROX

Here is a search for regal lily. The white one is slightly different.

http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/adv_search.php?searcher[common]=regal+lily&searcher[family]=&searcher[genus]=&searcher[species]=&searcher[cultivar]=&searcher[hybridizer]=&searcher[grex]=&search_prefs[blank_cultivar]=&search_prefs[sort_by]=rating&images_prefs=both&Search=Search


Hope this is what you are looking for.

edited to add, regale is the species of Lilium.

http://www.lilyregister.com/register/search/result.htm

This message was edited Oct 27, 2008 2:36 PM

Sometimes I just do a Google search and it comes up with the Plantfile I want, easier than trying to figure out spelling or exact genus or even how someone entered it in the common name field. A lot of times when I use 'rose' in the common name field and the cultivar name I come up empty. I then try again by removing the word 'rose', leaving just the cultivar name and often I get the PF. It's because whoever entered the Common field just put something like 'Hybrid Tea', or 'Large Flowered Climber'. I send a report to admin to fix those.
I enter new plants by having a second page open of a plant already in the PF and copying all the common, family & genus info.

Let me see if I can help.

You don't necessarily have to enter plants from PlantFiles, you can create journal entries right from your journal if you wish. Just go to your journal and access the category you want to add the entry to (if you've set up categories) Then you will be given the option to 'Add a new item under this category' and then you can put in the information much like in my example in the photo.

As you can see, this is a bogus lily, as there is no cultivar 'Joan's Lily', and obviously not in PlantFiles.

The lily you were looking for 'Regale' isn't a cultivar, it's a species, Lilium regale, and the entry is located here: http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/1023/

I hope this helps. I'll watch this thread in case I'm totally misunderstanding what it is you are wanting to do.

Joan

Thanks all of you!!!! I see that my mistake with regale was that it's the species and not the cultivar name, but I've had this problem often of the program wanting to call my plant something other than what it is if it's not in plantfiles. I'll try entering a few other lilies that I don't think are listed and let you know what happens.

Thanks! I'm watching this thread. If you have any problems, post here and we'll see if we can track them down.

Now I remember what one problem is. There's no place in adding to a tradelist for a common name. I can't say "asiatic lily" or "trumpet lily" and then put in the cultivar. That would be much simpler. And I would much prefer to not to have the program guess for me because the answers to all questions have always been no - (not correct), and the only choice you get is "correct."

Okay, now I understand that it's your tradelist, not your journal that you are having problems with.

I just added the erroneous Lilium 'Joan's Lily' to my tradelist, and it went in just fine. All I added was this:

I checked that I had it on my 'Have' list
I checked that I had seeds
I added Lilium to the genus field
I added 'Joan's Lily' to the cultivar field

Obviously, it won't link to a PlantFile entry, because there is no such entry in PlantFiles, but it does show up on my trade list as not found in PlantFiles and the system does offer some potential matches. Unfortunately, that's the way the system works. The reasoning behind this is so your potential traders know exactly what it is you have to trade. The trade-list, as well as the journal, links to genus, species and cultivar rather than common name. Common names can be so variable, and in many cases the same common name can be used for the several different plants in different genera.

If you can find the correct information for the plant you are wanting to add to your trade list and enter it that way, (or add it to your trade-list via the PlantFile entry), there will be an exact match, unless that plant is not yet added to PlantFiles. If that's the case, we are more than willing to help you get it added as long as it's a verifiable plant. Just let us know.

It's a great way to list something that perhaps you have been unable to definitively identify, such as a lily that you picked up somewhere years ago, maybe you lost the name to it but you now have plenty to share with others. Add the basics into the Have list, include a brief description and your photo and then make sure you share your trade list with others. Someone is bound to fall in love it and offer a trade in return!

Thanks Joan. These are a few that I purchased at The Lily Nook and wanted to add to plantfiles. This is all the info I have, and couldn't find more doing a search:

Asiatic lily:
A1424 RED STRAP (C.F. Patterson) (1c) Reflexed deep cherry red blooms with a high luster, raised black spotting and orange red pollen. 2.5' M

Asiatic lily:
A1120 ROBINSONS COMET ® (Ed Robinson)
(1bc) Reflexed raspberry plum flowers with dark spots on half of the petals. 4' ML

Trumpet lily:
T1039 GRIESBACH TETRA GOLD (strain)
Deep golden orange shades with varying brown to purple reverse. 4-5' L

It looks like only one is registered. I don't know if that makes a difference to you. Is this enough info?

I agree, it is a great way to share some extras you have. Go right ahead and add them the way you have been, but if you are unsure of their identity, then the tradelist entry will show up as I posted above.

That's not necessarily a bad thing. There are many folks that aren't concerned about their garden plants correct identity and will be more than willing to trade. These types of gardeners are just interested in enjoying pretty blooms, and aren't worried about the identity, parentage, etc.

It will also show those potential traders that ARE concerned about their plants identity and parentage, that this might not be what they are looking for in a trade, and will warn them that it's a potential unknown. That will save both of you lots of stress later down the road. You are showing it in your tradelist as a potential unknown, and when they look at your tradelist, they can easily see that. There should be no questions later, where if you listed an unknown that was linked to a PlantFile entry, there could be some questions asked later.

If I can help you find any PlantFile entries, please let me know and I'll help in any way I can.

Red Strap is not yet in PlantFiles, but obviously a valid cultivar. Here's one site that helps with verification of this cultivar. http://www.phoenixperennials.com/nursery/plant.php?plantID=3144

Robinson's Comet here in PlantFiles, http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/178098/ and verified by the Lily Register http://www.lilyregister.com/register/details.htm?id=6823 This entry was just added a few minutes ago, so it's brand new to PlantFiles.

GRIESBACH TETRA GOLD is giving me some fits. The only place I can find it is on the Lily Nook site. Perhaps someone else can offer some help with this one?

Don't you just love online detective work?! And that lily register site is good to know about.

There ya go! Instead of PlantFiles Administrator, I want to be a Plant Online Detective! Sounds much more official, doesn't it? ^_^ A badge carrying member of the POD!

Sorry...I'm very tired. :)

Dear Ms. POD,;-) This is a great thread! I've had plants that I was a little too intimidated to enter myself. Is there a place or forum for these kinds of questions or where can I ask them when I run across them again. I've been looking for tips like this here and there on this site (even though I've been around for a few years) ;-), I just never thought of speaking up! Thanks, Andrea

Andrea, at the top of your Tradelist page and the Journal page, there are links that have tutorials and FAQ. If you don't find it there, ask away, POD Admin is watching this thread and can help.

Did you know that the FAQ linnks take you to different questions, depending on what area of Dave's Garden you are in? Like Sue pointed out, the FAQ link in the journal area will have the questions pertaining to journaling, the FAQ in PlantFiles will have the questions pertaining to PlantFiles, etc. I just learned that myself not too long ago.

Andrea, if you want to enter a plant in PlantFiles, we are always willing to walk you through the process. You can either post here, use the 'Report an Error' button and send your request for assistance that way, or you can dmail me if you wish.

There is so much to explore here on Daves, you really can sit here all day, clicking away, learning and being inspired. (I speak from experience!)
Once you start entering new plants to PF, it becomes easier. When I first started adding them, I was clueless as to understanding Family, Genus, Species but gradually it started to come together and I often got help from the PF Admins, especially the POD Admin Joan here, they are so helpful! When I first started adding new plants, I only did daylilies as I quickly learned the correct way to enter them. Soon I started adding roses too and then all kinds of other plants with the help of other sites for proper classification. Now I have 668 entries and as soon as the weather changes, I plan to work on adding more. I am always encouraging other to enter their beautiful photos they post in threads, I am a big cheerleader of the PlantFiles and now lately, the Journal too as I am gradually adding all my plants & photos into that as well. I just started using the Tradelist organizing functions like the TradeTracker, it's real nice!

This message was edited Oct 28, 2008 10:01 AM

I didn't realize until just recently that garden journals could be used for plant lists - had thought it was something for writing about gardening and hadn't even looked at it. If I had known, I probably wouldn't have used the trade lists for keeping track of my plants, whether available for trade or not, but since I've started that way (and it's very time consuming), I guess I'll continue.
I'll try again to do some entries into plantfiles, but Joan may be getting some requests for help!

Oh, Thanks! I didn't realize how to get the help when I got stuck trying to figure out how to enter a plant into PlantFiles. This is great to know! I'm logging in my plants through PlantFiles into my "have" list and then disabling them until I have them to trade. I just found out how to use the journal also and am starting to work on that. After 3 years of being here, still learning how to use all the great things on this site! :-0. Andrea

Did you know you can add plants to your Journal directly from PlantFiles? If it includes a species name, it will also include the PF hyperlink. Saves time typing them in manually.

No, I did not. Really??? .... Holy Cow, I never noticed the "add it to your journal" button in the "actions" before. Thanks! That oughta make things easier. I wonder how many other things I'm missing by not looking around. :-) Andrea

LOL, I did the same thing, not check it out until early this year, then I had way too much fun scouring the PlantFiles and adding all my plants. I made a few false starts, had to delete a few times before I figured out how to make the separate folders. My Journal has grown by leaps and bounds and I hope to soon have all my own images added for each plant I enter.