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Jul 6, 2015 9:33 AM CST
Thread OP
Name: Paul
Utah (Zone 5b)
Grandchildren are my greatest joy.
Annuals Enjoys or suffers cold winters Plant Lover: Loves 'em all! Garden Procrastinator Hosted a Not-A-Raffle-Raffle Plays in the sandbox
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Sometimes I use google to establish or confirm a plant ID. What has been your experience? Do you consider it a reliable source of info?
Paul Smith Pleasant Grove, Utah
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Jul 6, 2015 9:50 AM CST
Name: Arlene
Southold, Long Island, NY (Zone 7a)
Region: Ukraine Dahlias I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! Houseplants Tomato Heads Garden Ideas: Level 1
Plant Identifier Photo Contest Winner: 2014 Million Pollinator Garden Challenge Celebrating Gardening: 2015
Not really. Often the first few photos they show are correct but then it's "anything goes" so I rely heavily on the ATP database.
Avatar for Dutchlady1
Jul 6, 2015 9:51 AM CST

Plumerias Photo Contest Winner: 2015 Charter ATP Member I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! Garden Ideas: Master Level Forum moderator
Region: Florida Cat Lover Garden Sages Cactus and Succulents Tropicals Hosted a Not-A-Raffle-Raffle
Google itself doesn't give you info, but directs you to sources of info. As such I have had better results confirming (or not) an already assumed identification than identifying something from scratch.
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Jul 6, 2015 10:00 AM CST
Thread OP
Name: Paul
Utah (Zone 5b)
Grandchildren are my greatest joy.
Annuals Enjoys or suffers cold winters Plant Lover: Loves 'em all! Garden Procrastinator Hosted a Not-A-Raffle-Raffle Plays in the sandbox
Tender Perennials Tomato Heads The WITWIT Badge Region: Utah Vegetable Grower Hybridizer
I don't use google as a first source but rather to confirm. If I take a picture of a plant with a name tag and do not find in in the ATP data base I google to see if info comes up that supports the ID on the tag. If that happens then I request it be added to the data base.
Paul Smith Pleasant Grove, Utah
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Jul 6, 2015 10:30 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
Google can be very helpful since it searches to many different sites. Many (most?) of those sites out there can't really by relied on, though. Google is a good starting place but for rock solid confirmation you have to go into the specialized sites that are dedicated to accuracy.
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Jul 6, 2015 10:31 AM CST
Name: woofie
NE WA (Zone 5a)
Charter ATP Member Garden Procrastinator Greenhouse Dragonflies Plays in the sandbox I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database!
The WITWIT Badge I helped plan and beta test the plant database. Dog Lover Enjoys or suffers cold winters Container Gardener Seed Starter
A lot depends on the reliability of the site that the google search brings up. University extensions are generally reliable, plant vendors not so much. I use google a lot when looking for growing information for unfamiliar plants and the variation in information is rather amazing.

Edited to add: Yeah, what Dave said. Smiling
Confidence is that feeling you have right before you do something really stupid.
Last edited by woofie Jul 6, 2015 10:32 AM Icon for preview
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Jul 6, 2015 10:35 AM CST
Name: Arlene
Southold, Long Island, NY (Zone 7a)
Region: Ukraine Dahlias I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! Houseplants Tomato Heads Garden Ideas: Level 1
Plant Identifier Photo Contest Winner: 2014 Million Pollinator Garden Challenge Celebrating Gardening: 2015
It's especially important/critical for colors. We can be 100% certain that no vendor or supplier of stock photos would ever play with colors, right?
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Jul 13, 2015 11:53 PM CST
Name: Celia
West Valley City, Utah (Zone 7a)
I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! Garden Photography Irises Plant Identifier Hummingbirder Birds
Celebrating Gardening: 2015 Cat Lover Butterflies Enjoys or suffers cold winters
I do my searches by clicking on many sites. If the consensus matches what I'm looking for, I will compare with ATP. This is my base source. ATP will help me confirm or deny an ID. Relying on many different sources is, for me, the best way to find what I'm looking for.
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Jul 15, 2015 1:16 PM CST
Name: tarev
San Joaquin County, CA (Zone 9b)
Give PEACE a chance!
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It is a reliable source of various links you can further read and compare to validate what you are looking for. I like it when it is able to lead me to a site that shows photos and info of a location where a plant is endemic, helps me understand better the needs of a plant. Our growing conditions here in the US is different, so getting more info from a different source and perspective helps, and google has a lot of those links.
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Jul 16, 2015 9:01 AM CST
Plants Admin
Name: Suzanne/Sue
Sebastopol, CA (Zone 9a)
Sunset Zone 15
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and then you can bring that info back here @tarev and add the details to the database entry! nodding Thumbs up
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Jul 16, 2015 12:12 PM CST
Name: greene
Savannah, GA (Sunset 28) (Zone 8b)
I have no use for internet bullies!
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Google and Google Images is a good starting point.
Google can lead to sites where someone or some company is trying to sell a plant. It can also lead to links for educated people who have written scientific papers about certain plants. I would be wary of the sellers with the pretty photos who want our money. It's better to wade slowly and tediously through the scientific jargon to get to the facts. (Just my opinion.)
Sunset Zone 28, AHS Heat Zone 9, USDA zone 8b~"Leaf of Faith"
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Jul 16, 2015 1:02 PM CST
Name: Deb
Planet Earth (Zone 8b)
Region: Pacific Northwest Million Pollinator Garden Challenge Garden Ideas: Master Level
Or any internet search engine. I rarely use Google, mainly because of the childish name and also their dominance (I refuse to use their name as a verb...)
I want to live in a world where the chicken can cross the road without its motives being questioned.
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