Since Dave said he is already programing this, I may be the one "beating a dead horse" …..
Seedfork said:I am hoping that there are quite a few just following along on the sidelines who are just waiting to see if this actually develops into anything. However I am concerned that more experienced people have not joined in, is that a sign they know something we newbies don't. Do they think we are beating a dead horse so to speak, I wonder? As Dave said he would need to see more interest in this before he puts forth all the effort and time to work on it if there is no more interest shown. I would really love to get some opinions one way or the other from seasoned, experienced growers.
I've grown daylilies for almost 30 years. I was a past moderator of the Daylily Forum. I guess that makes me "experienced"…
I've been reading through this thread as it has developed. I've read through it a couple of times and I am confused
1) what is the point of this, that people do not believe what the hybridizers state when they register the plants?
2) why is it being made into some a form that limits responses to those on the form
3) I don't understand why these observations cannot be simply added as a comment. Isn't that why we have a comments section??
4) what is going to happen once people fill out these forms? All the info is going to be averaged and added to the database somehow? If someone is looking for information isn't having the comments that give location and the observations from individual people and various gardens and conditions more desirable?
I read in this thread that one person thinks people don't make comments because they get flooded with requests for trades. Another mentioned that it is difficult to read through an entire comment to find the number of buds.
Really? I have made quite a few comments and I have never had a trade request. Comments are not usually that long that you should have trouble finding the information in them… are they?
Making a comment for this information does not need to take a lot of time - really not much longer than filling out one of these forms. But it can give a lot of information to the database user.
You can make a basic "comment" in your word processing program that gives your growing conditions, zone, fertilizing, watering etc. Then all you have to do is fill in the date, bud count, branching numbers, what ever information you want to give, and copy and paste it into the cultivar's comment section. Easy and everyone can customize it to their own garden. Save the text file and use it the next time you enter info for another daylily.
You could go back and edit or add to your comments about the cultivar the next year or two as the plant clumps up or reblooms. Even add things like it sets pods easily or gives lots of seeds or has great foliage, or tends to get leaf streak. We need more comments that give information about our daylilies. We have a database full of photos. We have very few comments. To me, reading comments means a lot more than seeing numbers in a list or form.
You can make comments about branching or bud count for daylilies you see growing in AHS Display gardens, or hybridizer's gardens, or nurseries just by changing the basic comment information to reflect where you saw the plant.
Isn't this what we have comments for?
And, you still get an
for making comments.
An example of text I might set up for this purpose…
My daylily garden is located in zone 5, AHS Region 2. The natural soil is heavy clay. Mushroom compost, alfalfa, mulch, sand and other organic matter were worked into the soil many years ago when making the beds. I fertilize with Neptune's Organic once a month in April, May and June. I do not mulch. I only water established daylilies if we do not receive rain for three weeks. The daylilies are planted in full sun. I do not use any sprays of any kind.
On (date), the following observations were made about (daylily name). The daylily had (number of fans) and can be considered to be established. There were (number of scapes) this season. The daylily did not (or did) rebloom this year. The average number of branches per scape was (add number). The average number of buds per scape was (add number). The foliage of this daylily is (thin, wide, blue green, or add other description). In my garden this daylily shows (leaf streak - leaf spot - rust - heathy foliage). The blooms showed ( no - minor - major) spotting from thrip damage.
Set up your basic info to make it easy for yourself. I would use underscores "The daylily had _ of fans and can be…." so that I could highlight the underscore and type in the number. The point is that you can set up a basic file to make this easy to do. Everyone can put in what ever information is relevant to their location and to the daylily they are discussing. This SHOULD be different for everyone because everyone's garden is different. Daylilies perform different depending on where they grow. The Comment section allows everyone put in their own info. Making a form forces everyone into the options given.
Save the file, copy and paste it to the comment section and fill in the blanks. Easy!
I just don't understand what this information is for, what will be done with it, and why it can't be put in the comments section in an easy to read format that is friendly to read for users that come to the database.
