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Help nurture this site and watch it grow the following ways:
Help nurture this site and watch it grow the following ways:
To find a plant, just type in the common name, or scientific name in the search box on the left and click on go. It should either bring up the plant you're interested in, or in some cases a list of plants that go by the same name. Plants are usually listed by scientific groupings of all the species of a genera. To put it simply, all four species of clivia are listed on the clivia page, from which you can click on the separate species articles. In some cases, when a plant is very widely known by a single common name, the plant is listed under that name.
To find a plant, just type in the common name, or scientific name in the search box on the left and click on go. It should either bring up the plant you're interested in, or in some cases a list of plants that go by the same name. Plants are usually listed by scientific groupings of all the species of a genera. To put it simply, all four species of clivia are listed on the clivia page, from which you can click on the separate species articles. In some cases, when a plant is very widely known by a single common name, the plant is listed under that name.
===How to read an article===
First the entire genus (eg. Muscari) is described, along with how to grow them, then the individual species (eg. Muscari armeniacum) are listed with some of their particular features. You can click on the species name in the list to go to the article specifically about that species of the plant. Wherever possible, zone information, plant height, width, and other information is provided for each species at the top of the article. If it's missing, you can click the edit tab at the top of the page and add it.
==Editing and uploading==
===User accounts===
Before following the editing/uploading instructions below, ''you must have a user account''. Accounts are completely free. Just send a note to [mailto:support@gardenology.org support@gardenology.org] and include the username you'd like to request. Sorry for the extra step, but it helps to maintain a high quality of information as well as eliminate spam. Anyone can get an account if they are willing to follow the [[Help:Editing]] guidelines!
''Even without a user account, you can add your comments'' to the bottom of any plant or garden article. There is a comment section that doesn't require any registration, so you can share your thoughts with the click of a mouse.
===How to edit an article===
===How to edit an article===
===The focus===
===The focus===
This wiki is dedicated to information on gardening and growing plants. The difference between an article here, and one on wikipedia therefore is that this site will tell you about the plant, what it's like, how to grow it, how to propagate it, how to keep it healthy and happy, all the important cultivars, etc. Wikipedia will tell you things like its history, uses, how many tons of it are produces in Brazil, etc. All of this is useful information, but which site(s) you visit to learn about the plant will depend on what you want to know about it. So on this site, the focus needs to stay on target, so that all of the information about the plant stays on focus. Same goes for articles about composting, grafting, etc. This site needs to tell you exactly what you need to know as a gardener to accomplish these tasks. You can see a comparison between the sites [[Wikipedia|here]].
This wiki is dedicated to information on gardening and growing plants. The difference between an article here, and one on Wikipedia therefore is that this site will tell you about the plant, what it's like, how to grow it, how to propagate it, how to keep it healthy and happy, all the important cultivars, etc. Wikipedia will tell you things like its history, uses, how many tons of it are produced in Brazil, etc. All of this is useful information, but which site(s) you visit to learn about the plant will depend on what you want to know about it. So on this site, the focus needs to stay on target, so that all of the information about the plant stays on focus. Same goes for articles about composting, grafting, etc. This site needs to tell you exactly what you need to know as a gardener to accomplish these tasks. You can see a comparison between the sites [[Wikipedia|here]].
===What's been done===
===What's been done===
For '''''very''''' detailed information on how to edit a plant article, see '''[[Help:How to edit a plant article]]'''.
For '''''very''''' detailed information on how to edit a plant article, see '''[[Help:How to edit a plant article]]'''.
==Gardenology.org Merchandise==
===Referencing===
Always, always reference your sources of information! This cannot be emphasized enough. For a wiki to be a reliable source, the information it contains must come from reliable sources. So the following policy stands:
When adding any material or information, please add a reference to the source at the relevant spot, by adding the name or link of a source in between the reference tags like this: <nowiki><ref>Name of book or URL</ref></nowiki>. It will automatically be referenced in the reference section of the page. If you do not include this reference, your material can be immediately removed as unreliable. Your first-hand knowledge or experience with plants can be added in the comments section below an article, where it will not be confused with the reference article text itself.