I love to keep a journal and I write down every variety of plant that goes into my garden. For the first time I sat down and counted the entries (deducting the ones that are no longer with me). I have 225 named ones and a few more I got in trades that I do not know the variety. Just wondering how that compares with other gardeners. Here are a couple pictures taken this morning.
I find it interesting to keep a species count, in addition to a variety count, and then primarily these days, keep track of the species. I find it really useful to keep records in general - plants purchased, and grown from seed - both written in Excel spreadsheets and also photo records. Can't rely on memory anymore! ;-)
What a gorgeous landscape, rteets! I have a hundred or more in my yard but not as many as I used to. I'm sure there are others that I absolutely can't continue to live without (lol) but now I'm trying to thin out the herd, so to speak. Don't have the time or energy anymore.
I am bad at keeping track of what I have. I can count all the shrubs we have off the top of my head, trees as well. But when it comes down to perennials, no way. I have kept track of my perennial purchases for this year and last year, so I have that going for me. Between them I have planted at least 123 different perennials. That excludes what I bought at local nurseries. I don't add those to my spreadsheet. Unfortunately, 14 plants from last year didn't make it back to this year. Does your 225 count include shrubs and trees?
I try to keep a journal, but am not quite organized enough to really be complete on this .
Here is what I do in addition to my haphazard journal, I have a box and zip-lock bags. The biggest (now gallon size which is barely big enough) is for perennials, and the loose ones in the first pic are the ones I haven't filed yet (I file about twice a year or so). I do try to write on the tag the year, and approximate location of plant, this helps a lot. The middle pic is the pile of perennial tags from the gallon bag-there could easily be 250 I think. Of course many of the plants have died. I have a list in my journal (now 4 pages long) titled "Things That Have Died".
p.s. my landscape is also more haphazard than rteets!
I feel like a piker compared to rteets. I have 102 herbaceous perennial varieties. This includes my 42 Hemerocallis varieties. I keep up with all my plants on an Excel spreadsheet which indicates the date acquired, the date each plant emerges each year, and the date each plant blooms.
Wow, I wish I as that organized Cottelpg.
That number does include trees and shrubs. I have 14 different kinds of trees and about 28 shrubs. As I buy a different plant I write the Latin name in the book. They are all simply listed - no map of where they are or anything. I seem to be able to remember that. This has helped me greatly in learning the Latin names of things.
