Memory Books for Lost Memories?

It was inevitable. Sooner or later I knew I would finally log in all of the plants I have planted and create a catalog file of them all. With all this rain what else is a gardener to do? Microsoft Excel is a great way to do this. I love using Excel. Prior to dumping my computer I used to keep a Microsoft Works Garden Journal for all of the plants and daily activities in the garden.


Works was not very functional for compiling a running list of plants I had and the costs I had incurred. The problem was you couldn't search for a plant or organize the plants. Now that I have switched to Excel with an external hard drive for a backup I should be more efficient with checking plants and varieties and tracking my costs (investment). No more lost data-hopefully. Finally, I got it!

In order to log in all of the plants I had to go through all of the plant labels I had been saving for six years. I have a huge photo album with plastic pages in which I placed all of the plant labels alphabetically by latin names. A little obsessive, I know. But I have found I need to refer back to these labels to remember what is where and what is what from time to time. It is so easy to forget even for diehard gardeners who work very hard on maintaining and improving their memories.

I used to be an air traffic controller in the Army. If there is one thing an air traffic controller needs to do the job, it is a good memory. I have tried crosswords, non-verbal clues and tips and notecards. I have tried to remember by looks and placement exactly what plant is where and what variety it is, but to no avail. My memory escapes me sometimes. Sometimes a suprise will pop up that I just know I didn't plant, which of course is wrong because if not me then who? Jimmy calls it the old age disease. Funny thing, Jimmy is forgetful too and he is only thirteen so I KNOW it is not old age. We all have memory lapses from time to time and it is ok. Alas, for me, the 'memory' book of plant labels is the solution.

Once the book was compiled (maybe a little too complied because now it doesn't close), I was able to log in the plants. I have, over the six years I have lived here planted over 300 types of plants, bulbs, trees, shrubs and vines. Annuals are not counted in the count-only plants that stay around more than one season. Not 300 plants-300 TYPES! That was way more than I had expected. Some have died out, some have grown like crazy and required division but most are all still here. It doesn't seem like it when I look at my garden though. It is no wonder I take so many pictures to keep up with all the plants, as they are not all in bloom at the same time. Probably a good thing too, as it might be kind of chaotic. Then again, it depends on the eye of the beholder.

How do you gardeners keep track of your plants?

Nina sent me a picture of her lovely 'Rose in Winter'. Who would believe you can have such nice flowers in December? Those of you up north will just have to enjoy the pictures. Camelias won't survive there and barely make it here. If anyone else has some pictures they want to share send them to me. It is a good opportunity to see how other plants are doing in the area. Thanks Nina!

in the garden....

Garden Journals and Twins

Okay, today is about garden journals. My best gardening friend Gerri is going to be shocked to find out I really don't have one. I had started keeping records about four years ago in Microsoft Works but have not been diligent about keeping up with it. I mean, who wants to come in the house and type about what they planted and where and why on a computer after working all day?

I, like a lot of people, told myself I would remember what I had done and type it in later when I had time. Time sometimes showed up, sometimes not and I almost always forgot what I had done. This year was going to be the year I would get it together! I dutifully logged in each month when each flower would start blooming and finish blooming (thought the order of bloom was important for continuous color and flower evaluation), what I had planted and where, and notes about the weather and growing conditions.

The journal had four years of SOME information in it then-you know what happened-the computer crashed during a lightning storm. I still don't know why because I had a surge protector, which was not damaged; and the storm was already over when the computer died. Mr. Fix it (my husband) reformatted the computer and chastised me for not backing up my files. This is not the first time he has had to bail me out with computer problems and probably won't be the last time, but I finally have a back-up hard drive and I hope it will save my files from now on! Journals are important for keeping track of what is going on in the garden and I miss mine.

I may mess up and forget what plants I planted where and when, but I never confuse my 26 year old twin daughters, though they look very much alike.

in the garden....