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Help:How to edit a plant article (view source)
Revision as of 21:16, 3 February 2010
, 21:16, 3 February 2010no edit summary
PASTE OR TYPE THE BOTANIC DESCRIPTION HERE
PASTE OR TYPE THE BOTANIC DESCRIPTION HERE
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Remember, Wikipedia is a great place to copy/paste a plant description from, and it is perfectly okay in terms of licensing. However, if part of the description is very academic, it belongs in the botanic description box. If it is not really related to describing the plant or growing it (for example details on the use or history of the plant) then it does not belong on Gardenology.org.
===Cultivation===
===Cultivation===
This section should have the information on how to grow the plant. Where it likes to grow, what type of soil it likes, pruning details, more details on watering, fertilizing, etc. Anything that is useful to know when growing it.
===Propagation===
===Propagation===
How does this plant multiply? List all the ways you know of, including seed, cuttings, layering, grafting, etc. If you have information on how the seeds should be planted (distance, moisture, temperature, presoaking or not, on site or not, etc), or special directions on cuttings or grafting, definitely include it. If not, just saying it grows from [[seed]] or [[grafting]] for example, with those words linked to the articles is explanation enough.
===Pests and Diseases===
===Pests and Diseases===
What pests or diseases (if any) is the plant most prone to? If there are remedies that are specific to this plant, then list them here as well. If they just need regular treatment for these problems, like [[aphids]] for example, a link to that article should explain how to treat them. No need to duplicate that information on every plant article. If the plant does not have a predisposition for any problems, you can state as much.
===Varieties===
===Varieties/Species/Etc===
This section is named Varieties by default, however depending on what type of plant article it is, the name may be better off being changed. For example, if it is an article for a genus, calling it "Species" might be more precise. Or, if it is for a species, then you might want to name this section Cultivars or even Subspecies. There are some plant articles which may not need this section at all, and it can be removed. If a species has no cultivars or subspecies, it may not need this section. If the article is for a cultivar or subspecies, it might likewise not need this section. This is a good time to remind you that this is a wiki, and any change you make can easily be undone or changed again. In other words, don't stress about these decisions! If you take it out and it's needed later, it can be added, and if you leave it when it's not necessary, someone else can take it out.
===Gallery===
===Gallery===
Oftentimes when people look up a plant, they want to know most of all what it looks like, so the gallery is very important. To add photos to the gallery, the photos need to already be uploaded, or you can use photos from certain other sources. For more information on where you can get free photos, see [[Help:Photo sources]]. Once they're on the site, you can add them to the articles within the text, or in the photo gallery. It's nice for the photo gallery to have various views of the plant, including what it looks like at different stages, or maybe in different seasons, in bloom, in fruit, the bark, the leaves, etc.
===References===
===References===
This section is for references that were used to get information for the article. It is '''very important to use references''' whenever possible, because it gives the information a great deal more credibility. If you want to add a reference footnote somewhere in the text of the article, you add a <nowiki><ref></nowiki> tag right where you want it to go, type the name of the reference, or paste the URL if it's online, and then put a <nowiki></ref></nowiki> at the end of it. That's all. When you save the article a linked superscript number will show up right where you inserted it, and your footnote will appear at the bottom of the text. You can also just list a reference you used in multiple places under the reference section manually, by adding an asterisk followed by the name of the reference or link. Including the references inline is always the optimal solution. If you used creative commons text or other text with permission in the article, this is also where you would give the proper attribution and credit for that.
===External links===
===External links===
This site gives the gardening aspect of the plant. Each article should by default have a link to Wikipedia here as well, which will give readers easy access to further non-gardening information about the plant. In general there is not often a good reason to include additional links, unless there is a great source of gardening information on a plant that expands upon the Gardenology.org article.
==Sources==
There are many great plant encyclopedias out there with ideal information for this site. The text must be reworded if it is copyright, but other than that the information in it is perfect for use here. They usually have all kinds of information on the cultivation and propagation, among other things. There is also the Sunset National Garden Book I use for the Sunset Zones, many plants are missing this information that gardeners often prefer to the USDA zones. There are other garden books, including information on gardening techniques such as pruning, composting, worm farming, etc which can be used as sources. You can use any material you like without restriction from sites with a Creative Commons license such as Wikipedia.org, just make sure there is a link back to the page you got the information from. If you can get permission from other sites to use their copyright materials, that's also ideal. Photographs of many plants can be found on Flickr.com - but you should do an advanced search for Free License Photos first, and if that doesn't come up with good stuff, look at some of the copyright stuff and ask for permission. Any photo in the Wikimedia commons can be used here, and in fact you don't even need to upload it here, just use the photo filename as you would with any other photo on this site.
==Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture==
===Sources===
Virtually the entire text of the [[Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture]] has been incorporated into this site. The Cyclopedia was once the definitive guide to garden plants in the United States, and possibly the world. Much of it is now dated, but a good plant description never changes. If the text can be incorporated into the article smoothly, great. If not it can stay in a separate box dedicated to the Cyclopedia content, which can go below the plant description, or in a separate section below the photo gallery. Outdated information or information not relevant to the home gardener should be removed completely and without mercy!