My husband figured out what I'd done wrong. Apparently I typed the information into a word document but saved the file as both a word document and as a pdf file. I was trying to copy and paste from the pdf file which can't be done. Duh. I am so technically challenged!
Anyhow ... I finally was able to edit my original post and the plants are now all neatly listed alphabetically .... I'm now going to delete the pdf file so I don't confuse myself again.