I use Excel. I keep a list of ny clumps and flowering times for each year that details foliage and rust performance and procurement history. The clumps are numbered and listed and have there own zinc and stainless steel tags.They are also plotted on a garden map as a back up. I have seperate sheets for the pollinations done daiily and the colour codes for the pollen donors; and a follow up sheet of the succes of the pod and pollen parents with the reason I had for the cross. I have another sheet that lists each seedling that flowers and their traits with photographs and recommendations for their future.
I am meticulous because my short-term memory is the pits. But I do it mostly to learn. It is quite surprising what you discover if you help your brain with data.

I think you are right, Gleni

I also agree.

An update on the Plant Album... It's much like a personalized version off your NGA plant list. There is room for plant logs, fertilizing schedules, and sorting plants by garden area. The log tab can be customized to record crosses and you can enter crosses as easily as you add named cultivars.



The image doesn't show all of the info one can record. Planting date, purchase date, value, etc...

Hope it helps those who are still trying to design their record keeping systems...

Okay, so I decided to try Polaris, and I'm really liking it!

These charts are in Excel format...

Grow Chart:


Daylily List:


I have yet to try importing to MS Office, and visa-versa, but so far, I'm pretty happy with it! If the importing is successful, I can say goodbye and good riddance to the stinkin' MS Office subscription, which I find ridiculous that there isn't a free version with upgrades, at the very least. I'm currently using the free Polaris, and the next step upgrade is still cheaper than MSOffice!

Update: I have successfully uploaded MS Office Word and Excel documents in to Polaris and visa-versa! Seemless! Editable! Yay!!

Probably will buy MS Office 2016, for a one-time purchase, (to which I thought no longer existed, until today ) bc we have a boatload of MS Office documents to transfer to Polaris, including the DH's resume', and he resists change! He's all for Polaris, but to keep his learning curve at a minimum, it's just gonna have to be this way! The free version of Polaris allows for one PC download and two mobile downloads, so I had to uninstall Polaris from the laptop in order to install it on the PCand test compatibility. but I have it on my phone, so I don't have to schlepp the PC around the gardens! MS Office includes only one PC download for the price. Found it cheap from a reseller online, and I will purchase it from Best Buy, with their price match policy, in order to have the legit software! 😁

I know! Clear as mud, and something is askew about all this, but I can't seem to put my finger on it! The bottom line is I have Polaris on my mobile device to use in the gardens; Polaris and MS Office are compatible with one another. (The only downside is neither one can reasonably be used on the laptop, I've complained about that to Polaris!); and, I can lose that darn monthly subscription to MS Office!!!