Comments on: Plant Bloom Record Keeping

By: Northern Shade

Northern Shade — Thu, 12 May 2011 01:48:21 +0000

Kate, I love to organize the plant data, to keep track of all of the information. One recent idea, was to add a column to the spreadsheet about where I got the plant from, since some visitors ask for sources, and I don’t always remember them all.

By: Kate

Kate — Wed, 11 May 2011 17:41:13 +0000

Great organization! You should be a citizen scientist (or phenologist) considering how you keep records. You might actually be interested in the GLOG feature on YourGardenShow.com – it a timeline and journal that lets gardeners keep track of what’s happening in their garden, and provides a visual timeline of entries.

By: Northern Shade

Northern Shade — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 12:50:41 +0000

Bek, the flax are very easy care and have a longer bloom time than many perennials. It’s fun to look over your garden records on the computer when you’re not actually mucking about in the soil.

By: bek

bek — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 11:30:11 +0000

Thank you for your visit. I really like the way you keep track of your spreadsheets. I am a quite disorganized person, but love wasting time on the computer. So that might actually be something I could do. That way I would even have a written record on what plants I actually have. I will give it a try next year.
I love your flax! I saw one in a botanical garden last month. Since then it’s on my wishlist.

By: Northern Shade

Northern Shade — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 23:41:31 +0000

Pomona, I like the quick visual of the bloom sequence on the table. It’s easy to see at a glance the peak bloom times, and the garden work horses that bloom over a long period.
I hope my plant list with pictures is helpful. I think it’s useful for people to post plant lists for their individual growing conditions and niche environments.

By: Pomona

Pomona — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 21:00:48 +0000

Thanks for the bloom-time chart. I keep rough records in my garden diary, but then that requires a) actually writing in my garden diary and b) looking up the last few years’ bloom time. I’ll see what luck I have with this method.

I do think it’s an excellent idea to keep a personal record, because not only do bloom times vary from year to year, they bloom from garden to garden and place to place, so a great combo recommended in a magazine or catalogue may just not be possible for my own garden.

Thanks for the shade-tolerance list, I might do one for my own warmer-climate garden (hot but semi-shady gardens have their own particularities, too).

By: Northern Shade

Northern Shade — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 13:56:46 +0000

Cinj, it’s reassuring when all of your plants survive the cold and start sprouting in the spring. I added http://northernshade.ca/plant-list/ as a reference to show what perennials and shrubs do well in a cold climate, especially the shade tolerant ones. It’s fun to read other gardeners’ plant lists and their opinions about them.

By: Cinj

Cinj — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 11:53:47 +0000

Wow, that is very organized. I like my gardens, but I don’t keep such records. I’m lucky if I keep the tags actually. All of the plants that I put in last year made it through the winter, so I am extremely pleased about that! I like the idea you have of posting plants that survived the winter in your garden, I just may have to borrow that idea from you!

By: Northern Shade

Northern Shade — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 13:43:07 +0000

Wurzerl, when I first moved to this house, there were only about 5 types of perennials already here, and each of them only bloomed for about 2 weeks each. There were many bare times that first year. In a small garden, you can’t only have plants with a short blooming time. You need some interesting foliage, and some plants with extended bloom times.
I understood everything you wrote, no problem.

By: Wurzerl

Wurzerl — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 08:31:29 +0000

Thank you so much for visiting my blog and for commenting on it. It’ s very interesting for me to see your posts and I think we love the same plants! Brunnera, Linum and much more.
I also have a list of the blooming times of the plants. My garden is little, 180 qm, not too much to have a lot of plants, which are only blossom some days.
I’m sorry for my bad English, hope so it will be better soon!!
Have a great week
Wurzerl from Bavaria