Too many questions!! Where to look?

[Bunny0306]

ok...heres my rant..are you ready for it?
I have been researching plants for some time now. I own lots of books, I am constantly online searching each plant, one by one, from different websites because I cannot find just ONE website that will give me all the answers to each.

I don't mean to sound lazy in any way, it's just...I've been making my own "book" in my documents and printing them and I keep thinking there has to be ONE website or book that has already composed all these answers into ONE area. I am going crazy searching high and low for each specific answer!

I understand experiece is EXTREMELY beneficial and I do have some. Yet, there is no way that I can watch EVERY PLANT IN THE ENTIRE WORLD grow in my yard. (I have such a small yard with not much sun-I'm limited as it is) Of course I have started out learning about plants that grow in my zone 5a C.T. I work at a small garden center, joined the local garden club, take vegetable classes...and still! More questions! When I finally think I've answered all the questions to each plant, a customer will ask me a new one and I wish I knew em' all. (yes thats how you learn, I know)

I just don't understand how I will ever learn all this information by the time I'm 60. I had a very good lady friend in her 70's who recently passed away that was an absolute expert on plants....Do I have to spend my entire life searching one website at a time for each question? Example of the hundreds of questions for each plant:
history? sun/shade? pruning? soil type? fertilizer? varieties? can overwinter? good in containers? self pollinating? companion planting? How long will it last? good for indoors/outdoors, how high does temp have to be? reseed/sometimes/maybe? t etc. etc....you get my point. (and that's only the basics)

Then when you start getting into botany...oh boy! My mind is going to explode! There has to be ONE website or a mile high book with all the answers! HA! If only it was that easy..

[Kisal]

I think you will have to have a personal library of books. I have one that I've put together over the years.

I have books on various kinds of plants, such as vines, trees, flowering shrubs, and so on. I have books on perennials, and books on annuals. I have books on indoor gardening, foliage plants, flowering plants, gardening with supplemental lights, greenhouse gardening, garden construction (that's building stuff like planters and trellises, fences, walkways, patios, and all that kind of thing). I have several books on Japanese garden design. I have books on just about every gardening topic there is. I've been gardening for a long time now.

I recommend that you become a regular at your local public library. When you find a gardening book you like, buy a copy for yourself. Look around wherever used books are sold, too, including garage sales. A couple of my favorite Japanese Garden books were found at garage sales. In fact, they were in the "free" box. They're absolutely wonderful books, although the bindings are a bit worn.

[cynthia_h]

I am constantly online searching each plant, one by one, from different websites because I cannot find just ONE website that will give me all the answers to each.

This path will lead you to immense frustration.

Why research green beans, peas, and fava beans in depth and individually, when they belong to the group known as legumes? Why look up Macintosh, Northern Spy, and Jonathan when they're each apples? Further, why look up apples, pears, and quince separately, when looking at the group of pomaceous fruits will help deepen your understanding of how this group of trees' needs are related?

The human mind is excellent at drawing patterns and connections. The Web actually doesn't assist in pattern-drawing; it provides random bits of information, but most often, the information is isolated and not connected to vital other information that would help the learner/new gardener retain it. I really think this is an advantage that gardeners who base their knowledge on books, who have books to refer to and browse, have over those who try to learn only from the web.

A book will present knowledge to you each time you open it, knowledge that you wouldn't have even thought to ask about. The author of a book knows where s/he is leading you, and won't let you fall afoul of the path. Trust the author. We have several threads here with highly recommended books--basic books--for gardeners. Look through your public library and read the basic books available. *Then* choose which ones speak best to you and your needs, whether at home or at work.

I also have a good shelf of books; not as many as I would like, but I am a regular patron of the local library and a library volunteer. I don't get any benefits from being a volunteer, but I know when the book sales are!

Cynthia H.
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9

[rainbowgardener]

No one knows every plant in the world... you don't need to. All you need is a pretty good depth of knowledge of the top 100 or so plants that you are most likely to have in your area.

And you don't need all the answers at once. You will keep learning as you go along.

But of course it can't all be in one place, because then that one place would be so huge it would be hard to find anything in it (and if it were a book, you could never lift it).

Patience! It doesn't take 60 years to know what you need to know, but you can keep learning forever. I've been gardening and reading about gardening for about 20 years now. I usually know what I need to know for my garden, though occasionally still have questions come up, but since I hang out here all the time, I learn new things every day.

[applestar]

I'm not 60 yet but I would say that what I know is accumulated bits of information, experience, and knowledge over the years.

Focus on what you are most interested in -- for me, it all started with African violets and a snippet of information that you could grow more plants from a leaf. Trying to grow them led to potting soils and propagating methods -- rubber plants can be air- layered? Cool! etc. etc.

I think by far, you learn most from actually trying to grow them yourself. books, Internet sources, all can provide good information and sometimes you will come across great authors with years of experience behind them. Other times, Internet articles and even published books are "fluff". ... Or more kindly put -- mere guidelines -- their experience will not match the exact growing conditions you have or can provide, and you will have to improvise and adapt.

So, what IS your focus of interest? Given specific questions, there are a bunch of us who probably have had some experience to share.

[Bunny0306]

Thank you all. I guess it just seems overwhelming sometimes when there is so very little time in the day to spare. I just recently finished my 2 month vegetable class with a horticulturist for only 7 dollars a week once a week and it was awesome! I'm ready for another one! He answered so many questions in so little time. (As does this website) Also, he gave us local college dept websites, phone numbers, handouts on vegetables, seeds, organic gardening, etc. It was well worth my 7 dollars..I felt like I was in school again taking notes while a professional talks.

I understand Rome wasn't built in a day.
I am in the local garden club and it does help knowing master gardeners and people who have done this their whole lives. I have considered eventually saving for college courses. I Scooped up some inexpensive books at a thrift store on berries, vegetables, and herbs for less than 4 dollars each. Once in a while our YMCA will have free books. Now I just have to make time for the library (or the time to read all the books I have) Sun up to sun down..so many chores in between. Thank you all for the excellent advice. This website has been extremely helpful. I will continue reading your posts and continue my journey.

[lorax]

I'll chime in here as an amateur botanist and reasonably well-seasoned horticulturist. It doesn't take 60 years, by any stretch of the imagination, to make it to a point where you're confident about the things that you can grow and recognize! I'm 28 years old, and I'd say that as long as you're endlessly curious and willing to ask what might seem like silly questions of all sorts of people who appear to know more than you do, you'll get the hang of it pretty fast. Most of it comes down to memory and experience, and the more you grow, the more you know!

I can also speak as somebody who had to relearn almost all of her plants' habits - I moved from Zone 2a to Zone 13, more than halfway around the world. I had to come up to speed on tropicals in about a month, or my entire garden where I was living would have died. It can be done, although I'm still asking the silly questions of everybody who gardens here, and I'm also still experimenting with what I can and can't grow!

When you get around to botany, one of the best resources going for history of plants is the MOBOT's Tropicos database, which is searchable by common and Latin names. https://www.tropicos.org/

Another excellent site that you may have stumbled across is Plants for a Future - they deal more with edibles and their history and care. https://www.pfaf.org

Best of luck, Bunny!

[tomc]

I like the advice of knowing something about the most comonly sold plants at work.

Its also probably worth knowing where to get questions answered by specialists-savants. Or where to search in places they've written.

If I may offer some advice; 'its the ride that is the fun, not the destination'.

Examples of experts/savants
Carolyn Male; 100 tomatoes
Mike Dirr; Woody Landscape plants
Sue Ashworth: Seed To Seed

Sometimes just a peek inside the book and knowing where it is on the library shelf might be enough for now. Buy them off the used book shelf if you've needed to go back to them often enough.