Perennials: Thalictrum rochebruneaum \'Lavender Mist\', 1 by DonnaMack

DonnaMack wrote:
Birder, it's not surprising that you are confused. It's like following the bouncing ball.
Once upon a time there was Daves Garden. Then after a brouhaha (I'll spare you the drama) the Dave of Daves was out and he created Cubits.

The Cubits model was that the readers would create and control the individual Cubits. Kind of like the inmates running the asylum. I was contacted and TOLD that I had been assigned Grasses and Pest Control, and that I was to set up my own Cubit, I didn't know how to do that, and when I asked for help I was basically ignored. And another point - I have a lot of expertise in roses, lilies and peonies, but I was not offered any participation there because people on Daves I frankly was not fond of took them. Grasses and Pest Control didn't interest the "administrators". That's why they were assigned to me. I took a hike. I got several dmails asking what my problem was that I stayed on this horrible website, where I have been since, I think, 2002 and have contributed to many threads and contributed many pictures.

Well it failed, and they went All Things Plants. They also took my pictures from Cubits without asking if it was OK. Didn't care for that. Didn't join them (yet more d mails about why I stayed in this awful place).

Then the National Gardening Associate, of which I never had a very high opinion, bought All Things Plants. More dmails, one from a UBER here, pointing out to me that I had no pictures on the NGA site. I told her that was what I wanted. She told me I obviously didn't like her (because it was all about her, don't you know) and, happily for me, stopped writing. I did report her to administration here because I don't think an UBER on this site should be pitching for a rival.

By the way, do you know how you become an UBER? By submitting the most images to our pictures file. I complained to administration a few years back that, in order to remain UBERS, people routinely submitted 5 almost identical pictures to Plant Files. I sent administration examples, and some were deleted, but you have an idea of the abuses. When I submit pictures (which I don't do anymore) I send a pictures of the entire plant (for plant habit), a mid-range shot (for an idea of what the plant looks like at closer view) and a closeup of the flower. Not five basically identical pictures.

Admin used to report back to me about removing stuff (particularly the racist stuff, which had them very concerned) but I think there is now so much of it that it has become unmanageable. I really think they are doing the best that they can. I write articles for Daves and they have to manage that, too, and it's not a little job.

I now contribute most of my pictures to Help Me Find (Roses, clematis, peonies). It can be free, but in order to do some things I pay $24 a year. And frankly, I usually contribute $50 because I really respect what they do, and I don't have to deal with the egos.

And I stay away from some people because an individual became kind of threatening when she claimed that I endorsed a plant I had specifically warned against. On dmail,I sent her the link that showed that she was wrong and ask that she correct the error. I take my role of providing accurate information to people very seriously. She started insisting that we make it public, and go to Administration, which is against the policies here. So I let her know that the communication was at an end. The person posts a lot, and for a time would post right behind me no matter where I went, and I would simply leave the post.

I try to avoid the really expensive sites because I think their pricing and shipping costs are exorbitant. I think we all know which those are, so I won't mention them. I go to High Country Roses at the beginning of the season, buy myself a gift certificate at a 25% reduction, and start putting roses in may cart - and they have lots of roses at $14 to $16. Then I have them shipped all at once. They are containerized, so they can sit for a while (sometimes weeks). Because of them, I now have 40 roses. And they have a 10% discount offer going for most of the year. And because they are in Colorado (high altitude, tough conditions), I can actually plant in September, which normally I can't do. Santa Rosa Gardens sends me 25% offers all the time, and their plants are great.

In opposition, David Austin Roses start at about $30. Shipping is very high. And they just started selling own root roses. They graft most of their roses on Dr. Huey graft stock (and say so!), which is not hardy in the Midwest. I have two clients who ordered something else and now have Dr. Huey. It's the most popular rose in the midwest because hybrid teas are often grafted onto it, and the union dies over the winter. I wanted ONE rose from Austin and realized it would cost $46 dollars!!!! Happily, my garden center deals with them and I can but mature, blooming Austins for $20 at the end of the season. And those are carefully marked own root and easy to grow. They are chosen for disease resistance. I picked up three Charlotte for a client, and a Winchester Cathedral for myself. Twenty bucks! They now have Queen of Sweden, Winchester Cathedral, Charlotte and another rose that is lovely but doesn't fit my color scheme. They always have tons at the end of the season, because $40 is ridiculous. And it's great to have experts choose the roses for you, because David Austin made a lot of claims for roses, early on, that were exaggerated. "Reblooming" could mean that it blooms in May and then doesn't bloom again until late September. His newer roses are better, but if you have a bunch of the earlier ones you get very little color in your garden.

A lot of the things that go on are a little crazy.

I love seeds. I just planted out five platycodon perlemutter and three platycodon alba that I started from seed. I realized I liked dianthus, got the seed from JL Hudson and just planted out six. I inadvertently started tons of my favorite heuchera, 'Firefly' and realized the ones I have from the past came back and are blooming. I now have about a dozen heuchera 'Firefly'. I think they cost me about $2.00. I was paying as much as $11 for a similar one years ago that would die out after two years.

It can cost some money to do a good setup, and I understand why people don't want to do it. But I have grown at least 300 perennials, annuals and veggies this year. Love it!

Sorry for the horribly lengthy response.

This message was edited Jun 9, 2017 4:31 PM