Okay, I really hope this isn't repeat stuff - with 26 pages of site talk, I'm not sure I'd ever find out!

The two things I miss the most from... well, that other place!.... were found in the plant files. I really miss having people say "I grew this plant here" via zip code or city or something - I'm living in Phx now, and although there are tons of plants listed as zone 9-10, needless to say if that's Florida's 9-10, it probably won't work here. Additionally, it would be nice to know who grew it in order to inquire as to specifics - I guess there would need to be an opt-out or in for that one.

The other thing I miss is the available sources for those plants. I realise that one is probably more complicated, given that it takes work on the part of vendors, etc. But I would be really thrilled if it were something that could happen. I hate sneaking back there for that info!

No deal breakers here, IMO, but things to do if you get bored and have time on your hands...

I also liked the 'grown in x ' feature. Dave?

I agree about the "grown in x" feature. It would also be nice if in addition to zip codes, there were an option to include the member's name, like Sheryl suggested.

As to available sources, tho, yeah it would be nice, but my experience has been that a large percentage of the time, the suggested vendor doesn't have the plant. I found that to be the case at "that other place" too.

Good point, Woofie. Maybe instead of a live listing of the plant, a vendor could just be listed as having had that plant (unless they plan to never carry it again).

And along those same lines, I'm putting in a "nudge" here for including some categories in our recommended vendors list. It's not always obvious from the name just what a company specializes in. Are they selling seeds? Or live plants? Or both? Or Irises? Or Daylilies? Tropicals? You get the idea. Be nice to be able to search for a recommended vendor based on what sort of stuff they're selling. Nudge.

I agree with Woofie on the categories in the recommended lists. Would also be nice to sort them... geographically.

I'm on this thread and contemplating the items that are brought up. I agree to all this, it's just a matter of finding that right approach and doing it right. I've been giving it a lot of thought and will discuss it more in the (hopefully near) future.

Here's a couple of thoughts-

I would rather not recreate something here that can be done much better.
We can do far more, it's just a matter of dreaming it up!

Take the who's growing this plant in the database idea.
In theory, it sounds pretty good. However, practice makes it a bit (ok- a lot) clunky and really, almost useless.
For example- if a member posts that they are growing SuchNSuch zinnia in their location. Really, they can grow ALL zinnias in their location, but they system only allows for one click at a time. Not very helpful if I'm searching in a generalized way for a yellow annual that grows about a foot tall for my area.
Also, popular plants have lists pages long of people who says that it grows for them. Looking for my area in a list so long that I have to scroll isn't very efficient.



There has to be better ways to give people the information that they really want.

!!!

The thing I always disliked about that feature in "that other place" was that you didn't know whether the person was growing the plant as a perennial in the ground, keeping it inside as a houseplant, or growing it in a container outside and bringing it in for the winter. There wasn't enough information to determine whether the plant actually would be happy in a particular zip code, especially in the case of tropical plants.

And come to think of it, our zip code at least covers a pretty small area and wouldn't be all that useful to someone 20 miles north of me with a totally different zip. Unless you're really conversant with zip code locations!

And I agree with what Zuzu just posted, too. Hmmm, could we devise some way to add regional information to the climate zones? I'm in the same zone here on the west coast as people in the northeast, but our success with growing certain plants is very different.

Yeah, like a little pop up balloon with the owner of the plant talking about where it is and how it's doing... okay, getting a little over the top, but it would be fun!

Ideally, people should add comments for the plants they own. It's a tall order for people with lots of different plants, however, so it may never happen in some cases, but as time goes by, we should have comments from various locations for the same plant.

Maybe we should all start posting comments for the plants on our lists -- just a few a day, so that it doesn't turn into an onerous chore. We can state how well the plants do in our locations, under our specific gardening conditions, and mention the special care we have to take with some plants.

I like "over the top", Sheryl!

Woofie- yes, that's exactly right about the problem with zip codes. I think most people get over that by scanning the list for their state, and making deductions from there...but that's horribly inefficient and....well, it just isn't good enough for me. Dave and I have been brainstorming this aspect, and we're playing with a few ideas.

Zuzu- I agree. Comments really are the very very best way to get the most info about who/what. Getting people to add comments is a whole 'nuther story- as you well know.

Coming up with something that is quick/easy enough for people to do, yet informative enough.

>> Hmmm, could we devise some way to add regional information to the climate zones?

That's why I like the Sunset Climate Zones. They seem to narrow down to really pretty specific climates. But they might be TOO small: Zone 5 is ONLY "Marine influence along the Northwest coast, Puget Sound, and South Vancouver Island". I'm sure there are other places FAIRLY similar to Seattle, but I wouldn't know it from Sunset.

They USDA Zones are useless for most purposes: 8b Texas and 8B Maritime Pacific Northwest are totally different.

The Koppen climate zones have the right idea, but they are too broad. I'm sure that millions of fellow gardeners all over the world also live in a Koppen Zone Csb climate (Dry-summer, sub-tropical, "Mediterranean climate"). However, the very wide range of temperatures and non-summer rainfalls mean that most of us have few plants in common.

Koppen Climate Zone maps



Zoppen zone by County in WA State




Climate Zones:

~ Sunset Climate Zones

~ USDA Hardiness Zones (average winter lows)

Koppen Climate Classification System

~ Koppen Climate System in Wikipedia

~ Koppen Climate System

~ Download Maps

~ Many Koppen Maps

~ Koppen Zones by County

I know, Rick...and I'm with you. Except that that is a totally different conversation to have at a different time because I'm never going to be able to get 96% of the people to get on board with that idea.

When things are easy, they get done. When things are hard/confusing/ or just unknown, there's no chance it will get done.



So- no other ideas

Ya'll just going to sit back and wait for our inspiration to strike??

yep

Pretty much....

Didn't ya'll do that map thingie once where we all mapped where we were? You know what I mean? We could do that for the plants....