Well, maybe native plants is wanted by others. Just I like the Wildflowers week idea better than the natives week idea. Don't like the twelve year plan at all!

angele said:I'm crazy about ornamental and garden grasses.

Grasses would be an interesting one. So many grasses, including prairie grasses, lawn grasses and ornamental grasses.

Love the ornamental grasses week, sedum week (could be in with the tender/hardy succulent week), native plants/wildflowers week, daisy type flowers week, shade garden week, pollinator week, houseplant week, tender/hardy succulent week, veggie week, annual week, spring bulbs week, fall bulbs week, (both of these would include tubers, rhizomes, etc), fruits of all kinds week, roses week, vines and climbers week, trees week, ground cover week, shrubs week, pond week, rock garden week, soil/composting week.
And many more if I think longer on it.

OldGardener said:Would anyone be interested in Hibiscus Week? I just started getting into those and there are so many types to choose from: Hardy, Tropical (including the newer Cajun series), the wild marsh land, Tea-type, etc. as well as annual vs perennial types.

I've been getting into hibiscus also, mostly natives, but I am interested in other types also.

As the hibiscus database moderator, I would also be happy to have a Hibiscus Week, but it might not be that easy to organize. We don't have a hibiscus forum, and there aren't many hibiscus threads in other forums, so it would be difficult to find authors for the necessary articles.

Newyorkrita said:See now, I am of the opposite thinking. I think Daylilies week, Bulbs Week, Wildflowers week, Veggie week, Roses week, Vines and climbers week all need to become annual events. You have to think of it as what has a lot of appeal. I think those categories all have a lot of interest. Daylilies and roses certainly are very popular flowers.

I definitely agree - these are all wildly popular - even among non-gardener types.

If new articles pertaining to different aspects of each are written, could there be a reference somewhere to the previous year's article(s)? In other words, if an article on daylily or rose care was already featured one year, perhaps a different aspect of dayliles or roses could be covered this year. If a link is included at the end of the article (ie.,"for care of roses, see xxxx") then those people who missed this year's spread would have the option of perusing last year's article, too. This way, each of those plants could be covered in depth more and more each year (and it would never become repetitive) but a new member could still easily access the basics.

Cissus quadrangularis!

How about we tweak the native plants from each state to regions? I love the idea of native plants month.

Did someone already mention a trees week?

But twelve years! who can wait twelve years! Not me!

That's why I said regions Rita. States would take 12 years but regions wouldn't.

I have to admit, I like natives but I don't want to devote any plant weeks to the subject.

I like Zuzu's idea of linking to the previously published articles.

Links can happen automatically, and usually do. You'll note that below each article you see a list of related articles.

Rita- it's possible she meant 12 months for the natives. One per state per week would take one year/12 months.

I always appreciate all of the different voices and your opinions!

Well, you asked for the suggestions and so you are getting them.

Yayy for Soils Week!
And a separate week for Cover Crops.

two Veggie Months
- Greens Week
- Brassica Week
- Peas Week (including Snow & Snap Peas)
- Tomato Week
- Squash & Pumpkin Week
- Melon Week
- Beans Week
- Cukes Week

Flowers I'd be interested in, but not wildly popular topics of conversation:
Lobellia
Salvia


>> How about Native Plants by State week?

Maybe this could be a parallel series of weeks: One state per week, and cover them all in one year. Or "Native Plants Month by region", and clump things into 12 regions.

Or there could be three parallel series of weeks all the time:
a Vegetable of the Week,
a Native Plant State of the Week,
and the original "ATP Thing of Week"

If all it takes is someone kicking off a thread in a forum, there could be the ATP Daylily of the Week, tomato of the week, etc.

But diluting any idea too far could make it uninteresting.

Since wildflowers are all native, but natives are not all flowers, perhaps if you repeated a wildflower week it could be Wildflowers & Natives to allow some wiggle room for articles/discussions about native flora that do not necessarily flower. Up here in the Pacific Northwest, many of our natives are ferns and other forest understory plants, whereas in the plains states there are many more meadow flowers to showcase. Pollinators seem like a natural discussion point, which also leads into the next tier of native birds and fauna necessary to keep a good balance in our respective regions. Stewardship comes to mind.

Although I do acknowledge that roses and daylilies are certainly popular, sometimes I feel a bit inundated with information about both. No worries, though, easy enough to skip if I'm not in the mood -- and I do understand the correlation between interest and web traffic.

Looks like Trish will have a full plate of ideas to choose from - best wishes and I look forward to another successful year of featured weeks (am I the only one who doesn't 'get' why they are called weeks when they are really months??)

Edited to add: maybe it really is just one week out of each month? I admit I have not been paying as close attention as I could to this feature. My bad.

>> (am I the only one who doesn't 'get' why they are called weeks when they are really months??)

It has puzzled me too, but I figure it's like the WITWIT(*) badge.

It's either unknowable because of deep philosophical issues, or if Trish told us, then she'd have to kill us.




(*) What In The World Is This?

Well, it is one week out of that month. Like right now daylilies week is going on.

Native Orchids? Cypripedium acaule bloom in May in NE Pennsylvania.... Spiranthes cernua flower around Labor Day.

Cattleyas and their hybrids bloom almost year around, but in my greenhouse mostly during Fall, Winter and Spring, and I would think they are showy.

Since my suggestion would not be a popular one - 'plants with square/four sided stems' - I would go with Hibiscus. A Hibiscus week would be a lot prettier than looking at photos of soil - yes, soil is important, just not very photogenic and it varies greatly depending on the region where people are gardening.