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Aug 26, 2014 3:13 PM CST
Name: Deb
Planet Earth (Zone 8b)
Region: Pacific Northwest Million Pollinator Garden Challenge Garden Ideas: Master Level
I think it is less intimidating if one simply uses the genus name, e.g., That's a rudbeckia named Goldilocks. You might know it as black eyed susan. Even though you know for sure it is Rudbeckia hirta 'Goldilocks' that may simply be too much information for a non-plant person to process. You are still providing accurate information, but perhaps not baffling the recipient with too many unfamiliar names.
I want to live in a world where the chicken can cross the road without its motives being questioned.
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Aug 26, 2014 4:41 PM CST
Name: Rick Corey
Everett WA 98204 (Zone 8a)
Sunset Zone 5. Koppen Csb. Eco 2f
Frugal Gardener Garden Procrastinator I helped beta test the first seed swap Plant and/or Seed Trader Seed Starter Region: Pacific Northwest
Photo Contest Winner: 2014 Avid Green Pages Reviewer Garden Ideas: Master Level Garden Sages I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! I helped plan and beta test the plant database.
Elaine and crittergarden and Deb, I’m sympathetic to both sides of that plant-name issue.

Pro “English”
Communication that doesn’t communicate is not communication! And the very first rule of rhetoric is “Know your audience.” And alienating an audience assures they won't listen to anything else you say.

Deb, you can probably steer successfully between the two mistakes of intimidating with too much detail, and "talking down". I have a horror of talking down, condescending, or being thought of as doing either. I can live with being thought a geeky twit, but will NOT intentionally talk down to someone.

Fortunately the things I AM sinfully proud of are SO esoteric that they're buried pages-deep where easily-offended people probably never read!

Pro “binomial names”
Sometimes you want to say something accurate that will be understood in more than one region. Hence “Latin” names. Common names are more like “Bob”. There are too many “Bob”s for us to know who “Bob” means, unless we’re in the same room at the same time.

Once I tried to divide and distribute big bags of contributed saved seeds that were labelled with only one-word common names. Some of those common names are used for dozens of species or up to 4 different genera. When I asked if the contributor had a more specific name I could use to label them, or whether they could say whether it was A or B or C or D (with links to four different pictures), one common response was an airy “I don’t concern myself with names!".

And that’s their right, but I never did adapt to sending people small Ziplocs of effectively nameless seeds. On the other hand, I did eventually learn what "brugs" are. (Angel's Trumpets or Devil's Trumpets that are not Datura. )


(And I do try to avoid thread drift when a thread is still active on its original topic. Try, anyway.)

And many or most gardeners are only interested in growing something, not in “unnecessary” discussion of theories or splitting hairs any finer than “snowy winter” vs. “subtropical” or distinguishing which genus a "yellow flower" might be.

I personally am very into understanding “why” and theories or guesses about “what’s going on under the hood” in Nature. That’s just my nature. And I do apologize for making uninterested people hit their “page down” key so often.

But I don’t apologize for my interest in “why”, or for sometimes using words like “mycorrhizae” even if I do have to look up its spelling every time.

Once, on another website, someone took a snotty and superior attitude about my being “too technical” when I worked out for someone how many bags of mulch she would need to cover a bed with certain dimensions 2” deep (or something like that). For two reasons I have no apology for the snotty poster:
1) Someone asked
and
2) It’s grade school arithmetic!

I’m sure I go overboard too often when only a few people out of 13,017 members care about a truly theoretical ‘why’ topic.

But back in DG, the push-back seemed aimed at a pre-junior-high-school “know-nothing” level of understanding, and that’s when I go to the barricades and defend “Give me Nerdy or give me Death.”
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Aug 26, 2014 7:26 PM CST
Name: Marilyn
Kentucky (Zone 6a)
Laughter is the Best Medicine!
Region: United States of America Rabbit Keeper Hummingbirder Salvias Charter ATP Member Birds
Echinacea Butterflies Tender Perennials Bee Lover Container Gardener Million Pollinator Garden Challenge
dave said:I've had a number of other members approach me and (shhhhhhh) there may be additional acorn prizes offered on Friday.

We should definitely do this semi-annually. I'm thinking one in the summer and one in the winter.

Also, we have had 509 comments posted so far! Hurray!


Hurray! Hurray! Hurray! Hurray! Hurray! Hurray! Hurray! Hurray! Hurray! Hurray! Thumbs up Thumbs up
Welcome to the Agastache and Salvias Forum!

Hummingbirds are beautiful flying jewels in the garden!


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Aug 27, 2014 6:37 AM CST
Name: Michele Roth
N.E. Indiana - Zone 5b, and F (Zone 9b)
I'm always on my way out the door..
I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! Forum moderator Garden Sages Garden Ideas: Master Level Dog Lover Cottage Gardener
Native Plants and Wildflowers Plant Identifier Organic Gardener Keeps Horses Hummingbirder Hosted a Not-A-Raffle-Raffle
I finally got one posted! Hilarious!

I'm definitely looking forward to a wintertime comment contest; it takes me a forever long time to compose each one! Whistling
Cottage Gardening

Newest Interest: Rock Gardens


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Aug 28, 2014 6:23 AM CST
Name: Ronnie (Veronica)
Southeastern PA (Zone 6b)
Count your blessings, be grateful
Region: Ukraine Organic Gardener Keeps Goats Zinnias Dog Lover Morning Glories
Annuals Bee Lover Dragonflies Butterflies Hummingbirder Birds
Me too and I have much more time in the winter since I never go out in the cold and snow Whistling Hilarious!
Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.
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Aug 28, 2014 6:36 AM CST
central Illinois
Charter ATP Member I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! Hosted a Not-A-Raffle-Raffle Million Pollinator Garden Challenge Plant Identifier Garden Ideas: Level 2
Celebrating Gardening: 2015 Avid Green Pages Reviewer Photo Contest Winner: 2014 Photo Contest Winner: 2017
Rick, like that reference to H P Lovecraft, my favorite author.
Nothing that's been done can ever be changed.
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Aug 28, 2014 8:14 AM CST
Garden.org Admin
Name: Dave Whitinger
Southlake, Texas (Zone 8a)
Region: Texas Seed Starter Vegetable Grower Tomato Heads Vermiculture Garden Research Contributor
Million Pollinator Garden Challenge Charter ATP Member I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! Garden Ideas: Master Level Region: Ukraine Garden Sages
Today's the last day! Tonight at 7:00pm CT the window closes and tomorrow we do the drawing!
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Aug 28, 2014 8:55 AM CST
Name: Rick Corey
Everett WA 98204 (Zone 8a)
Sunset Zone 5. Koppen Csb. Eco 2f
Frugal Gardener Garden Procrastinator I helped beta test the first seed swap Plant and/or Seed Trader Seed Starter Region: Pacific Northwest
Photo Contest Winner: 2014 Avid Green Pages Reviewer Garden Ideas: Master Level Garden Sages I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! I helped plan and beta test the plant database.
Jmorth, I saw saw some movie as a kid, then refused to read anything by Lovecraft for years. Too scary!
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Aug 28, 2014 9:24 AM CST
Surprisingly GREEN Pittsburgh (Zone 6a)
Rabbit Keeper Bee Lover Cat Lover Lover of wildlife (Black bear badge) Butterflies Hummingbirder
Dog Lover Birds Plant and/or Seed Trader Bulbs Echinacea Irises
dave said:Today's the last day! Tonight at 7:00pm CT the window closes and tomorrow we do the drawing!


Ratz.
Next time!
SHOW ME YOUR CRITTERS! I have a critter page over at Cubits. http://cubits.org/crittergarde...
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Aug 28, 2014 12:40 PM CST
Name: Lynn
Oregon City, OR (Zone 8b)
Charter ATP Member Garden Sages I helped plan and beta test the plant database. I helped beta test the Garden Planting Calendar I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! Plant Database Moderator
Forum moderator I helped beta test the first seed swap Million Pollinator Garden Challenge Celebrating Gardening: 2015 Plant and/or Seed Trader Garden Ideas: Master Level
It's not to late crittergarden. Start writing. You can even do it in a word document, adding deleting and proofing before copying and pasting to the comment box. Hurray!
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Aug 28, 2014 2:14 PM CST
Name: Jennifer
48036 MI (Zone 6b)
Cottage Gardener Houseplants Spiders! Heucheras Frogs and Toads Dahlias
Hummingbirder Sedums Winter Sowing Peonies Region: Michigan Celebrating Gardening: 2015
I've been sneaking in comments between phone calls at work all day Whistling

I've also been enjoying reading all the recent comments. But it has been very hard to keep up! I can't wait to see how many comments were added in the contest period!

The really cool thing is that even after the contest is over you still get an acorn for every comment! So I will still keep on commenting.
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Aug 28, 2014 2:43 PM CST
Name: Marilyn
Kentucky (Zone 6a)
Laughter is the Best Medicine!
Region: United States of America Rabbit Keeper Hummingbirder Salvias Charter ATP Member Birds
Echinacea Butterflies Tender Perennials Bee Lover Container Gardener Million Pollinator Garden Challenge
At least one Acorn at the end of the contest. Hurray! Thumbs up

Some of my comments weren't long enough to warrant an Acorn when I did them. Whistling
Welcome to the Agastache and Salvias Forum!

Hummingbirds are beautiful flying jewels in the garden!


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Aug 28, 2014 2:49 PM CST
Plants Admin
Name: Zuzu
Northern California (Zone 9a)
Region: Ukraine Charter ATP Member Region: California Cat Lover Roses Clematis
Irises Celebrating Gardening: 2015 Plant Identifier Garden Sages Plant Database Moderator Garden Ideas: Master Level
That's the spirit, Jennifer! Now that everyone sees how much these comments are appreciated, I hope comments will continue to be added in large numbers every day.

I have to issue a little warning: I'm a night owl, and I never get up before noon, which is 3:00 in the afternoon for some of you, so the winner might have to wait for the acorns if the drawing is held early.
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Aug 28, 2014 3:01 PM CST
Name: Elaine
Sarasota, Fl
The one constant in life is change
Amaryllis Tropicals Multi-Region Gardener Orchids Master Gardener: Florida Irises
Herbs Region: Florida Vegetable Grower Daylilies Birds Cat Lover
So right Jennifer, let's hope we all get more into the habit of posting comments whenever we're using or adding anything to the DB.
Elaine

"Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm." –Winston Churchill
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Aug 28, 2014 3:03 PM CST
Name: Margaret
Near Kamloops, BC, Canada (Zone 3a)
Region: Canadian Lover of wildlife (Black bear badge) Tip Photographer Garden Ideas: Master Level I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! Charter ATP Member
Morning Glories Critters Allowed Birds Houseplants Butterflies Garden Photography
Zuzu, how many words do we need in a comment to get an acorn??? I'm all ears!
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Aug 28, 2014 3:11 PM CST
Name: Elaine
Sarasota, Fl
The one constant in life is change
Amaryllis Tropicals Multi-Region Gardener Orchids Master Gardener: Florida Irises
Herbs Region: Florida Vegetable Grower Daylilies Birds Cat Lover
If I may, Margaret, Dave said in the announcement for the contest that we would not get acorns for "one line comments" so I guess you have to go for a couple of sentences at least. Don't know about you but I rarely have any trouble finding a couple of sentences worth of bafflegab about plants. I just have to then go back and figure out if it's actually worthwhile bafflegab.
Elaine

"Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm." –Winston Churchill
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Aug 28, 2014 3:28 PM CST
Name: Marilyn
Kentucky (Zone 6a)
Laughter is the Best Medicine!
Region: United States of America Rabbit Keeper Hummingbirder Salvias Charter ATP Member Birds
Echinacea Butterflies Tender Perennials Bee Lover Container Gardener Million Pollinator Garden Challenge
Think you're going to have more than 2 sentences. Might have to be more than 4 or 5, at least that's what its been for me since ATP started the comments feature years ago.
Welcome to the Agastache and Salvias Forum!

Hummingbirds are beautiful flying jewels in the garden!


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Aug 28, 2014 3:31 PM CST
Plants Admin
Name: Zuzu
Northern California (Zone 9a)
Region: Ukraine Charter ATP Member Region: California Cat Lover Roses Clematis
Irises Celebrating Gardening: 2015 Plant Identifier Garden Sages Plant Database Moderator Garden Ideas: Master Level
I think it's based more on the number of words than sentences. You won't get an acorn, for example, if you add two sentences of this type: "Nice plant. Good colors." Big Grin
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Aug 28, 2014 3:44 PM CST
Name: Linda
Tucson, Arizona
Morning Glories Charter ATP Member I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! Region: United States of America Amaryllis Hummingbirder
Region: Southwest Gardening Echinacea Roses Birds Seed Starter Plumerias
I added a comment on Aug 25 that was 5 sentences long on Red-leaf Hibiscus. I did not receive an acorn, so I take it that it was not acceptable and that I am not in the contest ????
" And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden" Genesis 2:8
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Aug 28, 2014 3:47 PM CST
Garden.org Admin
Name: Dave Whitinger
Southlake, Texas (Zone 8a)
Region: Texas Seed Starter Vegetable Grower Tomato Heads Vermiculture Garden Research Contributor
Million Pollinator Garden Challenge Charter ATP Member I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! Garden Ideas: Master Level Region: Ukraine Garden Sages
You did get the acorn, Linda, you just didn't get a system message telling you about it. And yes, you're also entered in the contest. Smiling

From my logs:

26/Aug/2014:02:02:28 +0000: /plants/add_comment.php (Gave acorn to quietyard for comment 14976.)

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