Garden record keeping

[Jupiter]

Does anyone else keep notes and lists of plants like I do? I have the advantage of being at the beginning of my plant collecting life, and moving house and establishing a new garden was the perfect opportunity to start with a list of all the species I grow. As well as names I keep records where the specimens originated from, flowering dates etc. I find it a nice way to help teach myself the names, plus I add Family and even Order which helps with learning the relationships. Many of you will probably be raising your eyebrows at this but I think it will be useful in the future, not only to me but to others interested in my collection. Maintaining records is not difficult and it's even a pleasure, researching a new plant, adding it to the list and familiarising ones self with climate and conditions in its natural habitat can only help with finding a micro-climate niche in the garden and keeping it alive.

[Alan_b]

I keep a 'Garden Diary' to record major garden activities and I try to record the names of anything new that I plant (in case the label gets lost).  I also take lots of photographs, particularly of bulbs so I can try to avoid accidentally digging them up when dormant.

[Jupiter]

Yes the photographs are essential and act as a diary of sorts too. Alan, how long have you been keeping the diary?

[fermi de Sousa]

Hi Jamus,
How do you keep your records? Electronically? Can you add the pics to the text?
Being very last century I keep records in "hard copy" diaries and also seed-lists in exercise books with details of source, number of seeds sown, when sown, when the first seedlings emerge (or when they are noticed!) if/when the first flowers open and the progress of the plant, i.e. whether they survive, thrive or die out.
Since I also write a monthly article in our AGS Vic Group newsletter I have a record going back to 2005 about the garden here, albeit only the "good bits"
cheers
fermi

[Jupiter]

Hi Fermi,
Yes I use an excel spreadsheet which I find easiest. I haven't been recording seeds sown but that's something I should be doing... I can add pictures to the text but I haven't done that yet.

Is it true you're a neighbour of Otto, fermi?

[fermi de Sousa]

Is it true you're a neighbour of Otto, fermi?

Yes, he's just 2 & 1/2 hours down the road
We're both in the AGS Victorian Group and the FCHS so see each other twice a month at meetings.
Since first meeting him at FCHS Rock Garden Group I've received many plants, especially bulbs, from Otto - he's always been very generous
Apart from paper records I try to have accurate info on all labels, particularly on seedpots; I remember when I first started growing "rare" bulbs and thought I could remember the source, etc. It only took the "sudden" appearance of something I'd completely forgotten about to make me realise that I couldn't!
cheers
fermi

[Alan_b]

I have been trying to keep a 'Garden Diary' since 2002; which is the year I got my first digital camera.  However I have not always been conscientious with my record keeping.  If I have been very busy in the garden I sometimes have to make a real effort to find the time and energy to also keep the records up to date

[angie]

Since I also write a monthly article in our AGS Vic Group newsletter I have a record going back to 2005 about the garden here, albeit only the "good bits"


Fermi I Love that bit    I would hate to keep a record of my plants, would hate to see how many lovely plants that I have killed over the twenty years of gardening, Oh its more like 35 years, boy I am getting old.
I do keep a record of my South African bulbs and things like that.

Angie 

[Jupiter]

Ah yes, judging by the speed my collection is growing now I can well imagine that in a few years I'll be in the same position. So far I'm doing a fair job at remembering sources and I always label full binomial names and dates. Working in research for donkey's years has instilled some good habits which come home with me.

You don't need to tell me how generous Otto can be fermi. I found that out first hand. I only wish there were more people like him on this planet and less of the other kind... It certainly inspires me to take a leaf from his book and help out fellow enthusiasts when I meet them.

[Matt T]

Does anyone else keep notes and lists of plants like I do? ... Many of you will probably be raising your eyebrows at this ...

Glad to hear I'm not the only one. I keep adding columns:

Genus
Section
Species
Sub-species
Variety
Cultivar/Collection number
Number purchased
Price
Supplier
Name supplied under (if different to the accepted name)
Any other comments (i.e. source, habitat, special treatment etc)
Then a column for each year to record the number of bulbs at repotting time / when pots are split / death of a plant (thankfully rare)

I'm thinking that I should now devise a system to give each pot a unique number as I'm starting to split bulbs that I originally had in small numbers into several pots. So, that will be another column, but I think this will be important because I have many plants from different collections/sources and it would be nice to keep track of their life history.

I have a separate sheet for bulb seeds sown including a similar range of information, and including sowing date, first germination date etc.

There is another sheet for non-bulbous plants and seed sown.

Also, a plant/seed wish list sheet with columns for each supplier so I can compare prices etc!

Next up will be a sheet to record info on my own hybridisation efforts...

My handwriting is too untidy to keep a hard diary and I like the flexibility of being able to change my records by adding/shuffling columns etc. 

[Otto Fauser]

I have kept records since 1959 (pre computer age )which now fill 2 thick books , which list all bulbs and corms either grown from seed received from private collectors ,various Botanic Gardens and Seed Exchanges overseas and bulbs/corms acquired in Australia or imported from private growers and nurseries in England and Europe .

     Over the years many have gone to greener pastures but I think it will prove a valuable record in what year some very rare plants have reached these shores for the first time .  Hope someone will look after those records after I'm gone.

[Palustris]

Check this program out.
http://www.ideasforgardens.net/
Really useful tool for any gardener who wants to keep records electonically.

[arillady]

Yes I am still in the hard copy phase for my plants bought or received, seeds etc.
The book of plants has so many that have gone to greener pastures.
I started with roses and gave them a number so that I could have a pencil drawing of the garden and where everything was growing. I still try to record the order of seedlings when I plant them out. sometimes this has been missed and then I am in a pickle if rabbits or birds move labels.

[Graeme]

used to keep an excel data base with every plant I had bought - its price and where it came from

what became evident after a few years is where you do and don't buy plants from  - and a big bucket of plant labels from a few nurseries

just don't have the time now to keep it up to date - but very interesting whilst I had it to analyse what I had spent - where things had come from etc. 

[rgc]

Hi
I have created a Word document into which I add new purchases with a brief description and picture from the web. (Only for my own viewing and so I assume that I am not breaking any copyright rules.) Am replacing the web pictures gradually with my own photos taken in the garden, but I am behind schedule with this. The list in the Word document is organised alphabetically.

Being a novice, I also take pictures of areas of the garden and add the names of the plants (as labels can get lost) to help me learn the names. An example of a primula bed is attached.
Bob