There isn’t a way for users to add plants at the moment. Curious what plants you were looking for though. I can try to identify stores to partner with that have them.
It is more targeted at houseplants now but only because that’s what I know more about. Definitely love these ideas and want to make it better suited for outdoor plants. It could also be a good motivator to encourage people to create an account, so that they can get personalized results based on their location! I think hardiness zone and invasive status are good first steps.
Thank you for your thoughtful response! I love your ideas. I will have to come back a few times to process everything but will add a few thoughts now.
Many science-oriented resources, such as iNaturalist, license content with creative commons licenses, but don't permit commercial applications. That prevents me from making use of many of them as part of my site. But in general my aim is also much different, so certainly don't see myself as competing. I want to help people actually obtain and enjoy the plants rather than just study them.
I think your tip about leveraging social media is excellent! I will brainstorm content that users can share out, like you describe. Probably a good starting point is a way to share your wishlist (or current collection).
Your idea about maintaining stock lists and allowing pre-purchasing of plants is really brilliant. I don't know much about the nursery space, but I will try to learn more and think about your idea and other options in the space. What you describe makes a lot of sense. I really appreciate your ideas.
Thanks for the feedback - sharing this project has really opened my eyes to my own bias there. Still thinking through how to best expand the site to other countries but in the meantime I'll make sure to mention that the site is US-centric when I share it going forward.
This is an awesome list with many things I’d never thought of! Thanks for taking the time to write it out. Seems like requirements for the gardening user and the houseplant user vary pretty substantially!
Ah yes, there is already a category for aquatic, but you're right that they should really have their own set of filters and everything else too. (foreground / background plant, needs CO2, water PH, etc.). Im wondering if there is a way to provide a tailored user experience based on what the user is interested in, but I feel that will explode in complexity.
The process is a combination of things. right now most of the work is done by a massive regex. I also do some manual labeling. Exploring some other solutions too. But accurate mappings are a high priority for the site!
