Good news, the Cottage Garden Forum has been set up and running!
http://davesgarden.com/forums/f/cottage/all/
There are threads that have been moved to the new forum, as is practice. 5 only, 3 started with suggetions of starting threads to give them a fighting chance. 2 that had Cottage Gardens in the title from earlier this year and one last year.
With this in mind, I decided to do a search for Gladioli, returning 59 threads not necessarily with it in the title, but included in the thread
http://davesgarden.com/forums/search.php?q=gladioli&submit=%28%3A+Search+forums+%3A%29
I then searched for Gladiolus, returning 527 threads, including PlantFiles
http://davesgarden.com/forums/search.php?forum=&search_text=gladiolus&limit=0&limit_poster=&Search=Search
We surely have enough to fill a Forum!
Gladiolus threads should give us a darned good chance!
I don't mean to dampen anyone's enthusiasm, but I sure wish Gladiolus discussion could stay in the Bulbs forum... I'm just not a fan of the recent proliferation of forums. I've learned so much about "other" gesnariads on the African Violet & Gesnariads forum, and I probably wouldn't have seen any of it if the forum had been "violets only." I'm hoping somebody will post a link in the Bulbs forum when there's an especially good thread with photos & information about gladiolus in the new forum... I'm interested in plants I don't grow (yet), but I can't keep track of all these new forums!
critter I'm glad you raised that point.
I felt the same when all changed for many more forums, thinking just the same thing.
As it turns out, I find it easier not having to sort the chaff from the hay. In other words, I don't have to sift through other threads and perhaps miss something I would be interested in.
Now I just go to the Forums I am really interested in, with a quick glance I can see if there's something I would like to look at, much more simple in the long run!
Besides that point, I think many more people would be encouraged to use it for this very same reason.
I think with the recent proliferation and splintering of forums, I just end up missing a lot... even more so with the regional forums, as a lot of good discussions of more general concerns (from propagation to pest managements) end up getting buried there. But I'll adapt! :-)
I know how you feel, sometimes it's not that easy to change what we get used to. It does expand our brain cells perhaps! If we have any left to expand that is after filling them with so much....
Well, I think I learn something new on DG every day (whether or not it sticks is a different thing)... and I'm sure that will continue even if I have to start clicking more forum links!
Thanks for understanding that I wasn't trying to be a wet blanket... :-)
critter-- I sympathize with your point of view.
Now with the cottage gardeners all focused over there, the discussions on the bulb, perennial & annual forums, for instance, will be diluted for sure. I miss all of my old DG buddies who have moved to other forums...Ah, well....
Wallaby, though, you have done amazing research on the glads...I hadn't really given them much consideration for the garden, but I may have to re-think them! Thanks so much! t.
hi tab, sometimes it goes like this........we get all wound up in what's new and forget what has been, or don't know what there is and we haven't found it.
Finding out all over can be a real eye opener. Finding out for the first time can be exciting.
I remember one thing my father wrote in my autograph book when I was still quite young.
Make new friends
Keep to the old
New ones are silver
Old ones are gold.
Makes you think doesn't it. Are glads gold? Hmmm, they could be.
One of the main reasons I feel a dedicated forum is good for a particular type of plant is to educate myself and others in a field there is little known about. The hybrids of glads came from the species, and there are so many beautiful species I feel it's a shame that not many people know about them.
If this site is for people just wanting to show their flowers and gardens then that is fine by me. I perhaps have a bull at the gate approach when it comes to finding out something new. My efforts here were not initially for me alone, but for others who are just discovering this field.
The idea of a new forum is not just to show flowers, but to inspire and educate. I could do this for my own pleasure, but so much more can be learnt by sharing. I feel that there is a rush to start something new in some instances, and the euphoria may die down, but without a chance it will not even get off the ground and generations will just pass by all the more unaware.
As raydio would say, I think I am rambling......
No, you're not rambling. You make a good point. I just preferred the former set up and find it much more participatory and interesting.
I like your little ditty. That's an old Brownie Scout song here in the states. Every girl learned it!
Thanks for you research on the glads. I think the species are very interesting and prettier than some of the hybrids. The glads have a bit of a public relations hurdle to get over here with their use in funeral arrangements--maybe a new forum will bring a new perspective to gardeners!
By the way, Bulbmeister has listed several Gladiolis species on end of season mark down--
http://www.bulbmeister.com/flowershop/fpl2006/page04.html#Gladiolus
And there is more information on their bulb sale listed in their DG Classified ad--
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/665806/
I would be jumping in on G carneus, they also have communis ssp byzantinus if it is the correct one. I do have seed of G carneus, many flower in their 2nd year.
I am thinking of starting a thread with different species and a link to pics of them. Right now I have seeds to sow, many many seds.....
Lilies here are the funeral choice. Don't know really, not in a hurry to find out.. I don't think they would use the species glads! They are more like orchids and most are hardy to zone8, some hardier.
Late responding to this info, a bit after the fact, but very interesting to me what works best for everyone. As a gemini (the twins), I tend to be a multitasker lol, so having lots of forums works well for me. I do find I miss a lot, but the plant world is so huge, and DG membership too, its really hard not to.
I do like to send hyperlinks to those who I think would take interest in certain threads to be sure they don't miss them (like I think I have with all of you, lol).
critter, you bring up a good point about the other gesneriad discussion on the AV forum. I'd like to see relatives of glads (that fall closer to glads in culture than iris, which has its own forum), like crocosmia as Mark mentioned, sparaxis, ixia, etc. micro-discussed here too.
I guess thats what I like about so many forums. I can look at the microcosm of a single plant and learn so much about its culture, then go to the more general garden forums to discuss how to put it all together, propagate it, aquire it, trade for it,....... Good grief! It is a lot! Also as a true gemini, I usually agree with both sides of an issue, LOL.
Neal