GrannyMarie,
I don't see the New Member banner by your name, which reminds me that I don't know how long that says up or if it is even based on time, or making a post.
Anyhow, I feel you have come to the best gardening site on the internet, and to me it looks like it is getting a lot better.

Boopaints said:Trish, I've changed some of my names on Facebook. it's rather easy to do and I can help via tree mail if you need it.

Thanks, Becky, but I don't want to change the name from ATP to NGA- NGA already had a FB presence with over 54K members which I will be keeping. If I can't merge the two accounts into the NGA page, I'll just direct ATP users to the NGA page.(which is actually the only place I've been posting on FB for over a month)

This morning I researched the issue. Trish I'll fill you in the details in person since it's a long answer. But yes, we'll be able to merge them and end up with just the NGA facebook page.

GrannyMarie said:When I came across the name 'National Gardening Association' it was not intimidating or stuffy or cliquish sounding at all to me. Instead it gave me the feeling of KNOWLEDGE and drew me in to want to check it out. I'm so glad I did because this is an amazing place!

Marie! I'm glad that you found us! I'm fairly new myself, and I have learned so much since I've been here! The people in the site are extremely caring, friendly, and knowledgeable. We're anything but "stuffy" -- sometimes we might be a little off our rockers, but definitely not stuffy

dave said:This morning I researched the issue. Trish I'll fill you in the details in person since it's a long answer. But yes, we'll be able to merge them and end up with just the NGA facebook page.

Dave and Trish. I see how you changed i. Good job.

JamesAcclaims said:

Marie! I'm glad that you found us! I'm fairly new myself, and I have learned so much since I've been here! The people in the site are extremely caring, friendly, and knowledgeable. We're anything but "stuffy" -- sometimes we might be a little off our rockers, but definitely not stuffy

It's ok to be a little off your rockers sometimes. I used to be an Admin on a bird forum and I often lovingly thought of us as a bunch of loony-birds!

Oh I think you fit right in @GrannyMarie!

To answer @Seedfork's question about the new member sign, I think it disappears after 10 posts, so GrannyMarie jumped right in!

@GrannyMarie

Welcome and I'm happy you found us!

Welcome to Granny Marie!

WooP EEEEE ...

But, do me a favor -- don't change again ... my poor brain just can't handle it :)



Sweet Mock-orange in the side yard ...
North Carolina US

I'm excited about the additional resources and opportunities since ATP combined with part of the "old" NGA!

I have a suggestion re.visibility. I have a hard time locating the NGA tab on my page now (I tend to keep a lot of tabs open in my browser). It's not just that it's different than the ATP logo... to my eye the NGA graphic is washed out and hard to see. All my other tabs (including Cubits and DOG) are immediately clear, but when I look for the NGA tab I have to identify it as "the one I can't really make out."

Please consider using just the central portion of the graphic (the sweet little seedling), and/or switching to deeper color tones.

(in your copious spare time of course)

:-)

Peggy, I doubt the name will be changed again so breathe easy.

Some of us are feeling a little sore, but this is a very big coup for Dave and Trish, they must have outlaid a small fortune to acquire most of the assets available.

It's available online if you look for it.

http://www.hilcostreambank.com...

This is a huge step forward, I guess in a way congratulations are in order, Dave and Trish have a large family who will benefit from this in the future and who can blame them? They work hard, we have fun, and the Whitinger family's future should be secured. It's just a shame it had to be done without more input, and with the sole intention of being for the US only.

2011 articles on surveys done by the NGA ..

http://www.gardencentermag.com...

http://www.reuters.com/article...

2014 ..

http://www.businesswire.com/ne...

The National Gardening Market Research Company, formerly part of the National Gardening Association and now a private company..

http://gardenresearch.com/

Looks like the director of that part of the association bought it, another person is involved.

Bruce Butterfield has been the Market Research Director at the National Gardening Association for more than 35 years ..

http://gardenresearch.com/abou...

Business to Business, on the old site.. which now has the 'new' site heading.

http://garden.org/about/b2b/in...

The old kid's gardening site which links to the new NGA, look at the 'about' tab. ..

http://www.kidsgardening.org/n...

Gardening is a growing business, where it had declined ...

http://www.prnewswire.com/news...

National Garden Month™ is a project maintained by The National Gardening Association™ - Copyright 2016

http://www.nationalgardenmonth...

Give a Garden® is another .. check the 'about' tab.

http://www.kidsgardening.org/g...

Nationalgardening.com bring you here.

Nationalgardener.com says site unavailable.

It's only the NYC Grows® which doesn't yet appear to be in the bundle along with the gardenresearch site.

The Whitinger family is going to be much busier than any of us are!

My little logo is pale compared to other logos on my tool bar as well @critterologist
My logo is also part time on my phone too. I still get the ATP logo. Bugs. Just bugs is all...

When opening a forum I am brought to the top of the page I left off at instead of the last post I read as before. But again, just bugs. But thought @Dave should know.

ShadyGreenThumb said:My little logo is pale compared to other logos on my tool bar as well @critterologist

I brought this up earlier and Dave said he planned on improving it, but it's not a top priority at the moment. I e-mailed him an edited version, but I don't know if he is going to use it.

That's good news, @Horntoad Jay. I am sure there are a lot of new priorities that take precedent over web appearance. For one, function.

Janet,

You have obviously done your homework.

I understand your feelings, and I sympathize. Really, I think I do. I don't know if you even remember me well from the early days of Cubits and ATP. Please know that many of us consider you a friend. A valuable friend. Please stick around for a while. You are a highly valued member. Don't let the name of the joint be an obstacle to established friendships. Stick around and give it a try.

Karen

I really hope no one leaves just because of the name. I know Dave is trying not to scare all the NGA members by having the logo all big at the top so they know they aren't lost. But I think if I was telling someone about the website, I'd just say, "Oh yeah, I'm a moderator on garden.org. You should check it out!" I don't think I'd say "National Gardening Association" unless I started going into a lot of detail for some reason.

I'm sure Dave and Trish are still figuring a lot of things out and I'm some things will have to be U.S. based, as they already were. Like, someone mentioned they went to a conference and met Dave. I can't imagine them traveling out of the country for talks, conventions, learning, outreach, etc. And the how-to articles may be biased toward things that grow here, but let's be honest, I don't think any of us are all-native plant growers. The internet knows no boundaries so I imagine the things that are internet-based will stay much the way they are now - a gardening free-for-all!

Lots of websites are based in the U.S. and that doesn't stop them from becoming global successes. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube... I know some people are currently going by the wording on the NGA site, but nothing says Dave won't decide to modify that. There's no rule book that states he can't say that this is a website based in U.S. gardening, but welcome to gardeners worldwide. The only limitation is your ability to speak English. I guess what I'm saying is that we all have more in common than we have differences. We all love gardening. If this site ever becomes something that you feel you no longer enjoy, then leave. But as some old English guy once said, "A rose by any other name would smell just as sweet."

@Dave and @Trish first of all Congratulations! I do have question more so for curiousity than anything else. Now that NGA is for profit, and a lot of the members including myself has contributed pictures into the database, would those become the property of NGA and may be used for profit without the expressed consent of members? Or is the for profit mostly from the advertisements fee or grants generated by NGA.

Will NGA become a paid membership in the near future? I must admit, I joined because this is free...and I love the camaraderie and learning about gardening tips. When I first joined, I had 5 plumerias, now I have over a 100+ and the majority are from seeds that I grew. Not to mention the non-plumeria plants I now own.

I do hope out international friends stay on board, we do appreciate your contributions.