I understand my posting has been seen as offensive, and confusing, and I'm sorry for that - it is always very difficult to initiate a request for moderation, and I understand how easily it goes sideways (from both sides of the fence, so to speak). Perhaps I should try again, with some refinement of this new focal lens... I am not admonishing the poster (who may or may not have ever been told that ads/reviews are welcome in, and might migrate to, the For Sale, Classifieds, Garden Deals and Green Pages/Recommendations forums). Nor am I saying that the delicate task of administration is in any way responsible for those posts occurring. I am simply saying that this format of posting:
www . sellerslink . com
specific list of the seller's introductory cultivars
seller's and/or hybridizers description of the items for sale
sale price
...is, in my admittedly limited understanding, the standard way an ad is placed and recognized.
I don't recall saying when an ad is posted it indicates the poster/respondents are not nice, friendly, helpful and welcoming people.
My post this morning was just in response to a picture that had educational value to it (I wasn't pointing out any ads or intros or ...?). It was a full-plant photo posted to a thread about the first scapes people are seeing in their gardens. The photo gives a view of the plant's foliage, scape, and buds. There have not been any similar pictures of buds or individually recognizable plant root systems in ad/intro/recommendation threads. So, my response was not to an ad for a particular seller: it was regarding the opportunity for gardeners to see more clearly what a particular hybrid looks like, in all of its parts, in a typical growing environment, and in a way that enhances data categories found in wonderfully useful databases.
I am not sure my recognition of the acceptance of ads in the forums really functions as a threat, when posting seller intros and prices is otherwise welcome from other members. In an alternate universe, if everyone likewise threatened to post their own photos and comments filling in information for thousands of general cultivars, I might say isn't it the-more-the-merrier?
In a way, the forum is already split in two, which is not to be confused as me saying such specialized and divergent pursuits are good or bad. But, there may be little functional overlap, and overlooked opportunities for both groups. Ad posts focus on buying and selling particular goods from particular vendors, and on the joys of recounting and displaying those purchases. Again, it is not a question of who the posters may be at any given time, or their intended reasons for posting, etc. ... it is just the recognition that an ad has been place in a discussion forum rather than in the many vendor-resource forums. I really hope I am not mistaken in what constitutes an ad/recommendation for specific goods and sellers ...
In the same way, I am hoping that bringing up an overlooked ad may not be interpreted on a personal level. My focus is on postings that clearly stray into advertising and documenting purchases from sale sources, nothing more. Really, it is ...
