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steve22802

How many different plants do you have?

steve22802
16 years ago

I'm working on updating my Excel spreadsheet which lists all my plants and I'm also trying to take pictures of all the plants I have. This project got me curious about how wide a variety of plants other gardeners have in their gardens.

My current count is 207. That includes perennials, bulbs, trees and shrubs. (Basically any plant except annuals.) I'm also counting different colors of the same species as different plants. So what kind of numbers do the rest of you have? I'm guessing My count is about average. (I certainly have many more TOTAL plants than this, just lots of duplicates.)

- Steve

Comments (27)

  • donn_
    16 years ago

    I haven't updated my full spreadsheet for a few years, except for the ornamental grasses. I have 56 different varieties of grasses. Maybe I'll spend some of the impending Nor'Easter time on the spreadsheet.

  • ninamora
    16 years ago

    What a daunting question!!! I was curious to see what my count would be, so as I was frantically working in the garden all day to get more done before this RAIN and Wind, I counted, and counted, and counted. I have approx. 500 different plants. I need more ;>
    Nina

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  • webkat5
    16 years ago

    Currently...approximately 460...will be closer to 600-700 by the end of this season...

  • remy_gw
    16 years ago

    Oh my, I have no idea! My husband will tell you way too many, lol. Being that I have over 40 iris, and probably about the same in roses, plus over 30 daylilies, so that is over 100 right there! I have at least 30 types of daffodils. I haven't a clue how many other kinds of bulbs. Assorted perennials would take quite awhile to figure out. Lol! I have a problem : )
    Remy

  • janet_e
    16 years ago

    I also use Excel to keep track of my plants. As of today, it's 485 plants in a 1/6 acre yard.

  • tjsangel
    16 years ago

    I dont really keep track of all my plants/purchases. I just buy what I like for the right area and plant! I grow both indoor and outdoor plants, so I do limit myself somewhat. I have 4 daylilies, 7 roses, 4 ornamental grasses, 6 Iris clumps, 10 Oriental lilies, etc. The most I have of any one thing is lilies. Anything fragrant will find a place in my garden.

    Jen

  • gfult
    16 years ago

    Steve and Donn, what information do you have in your spreadsheet?

    I have a list but it needs to be updated so I will answer this question later. I have a pretty small garden and I think I lost some new plants this year so Im guessing I will have about 35 varieties using Steve's gudelines (except the different colors in my species tulips mix will only count as one).

  • WendyB 5A/MA
    16 years ago

    I have two 12" long boxes that hold 4x6 index cards on each plant. One box is for woodies and one box is perennials. Each box is about 2/3 full, representing 10 years of OCD plant acquisition. I tape the plant tag to the index card too.

    1000? Reminds me of a jelly bean in a jar contest!

    I do try to go through it from time to time and pull out plants no longer in the garden. But offsetting that, there are probably some plants that never made it into the box when I first started out.

    I've wanted to start a database too, but the data input seems daunting.

  • gfult
    16 years ago

    Turns out I have 51 but i have 6 that I havent seen any sign of this year. If they dont show up I have 45.
    I posted a question about that on the new england forum.

    Wendyb, i had the same though about the jelly bean jar.

    Here is a link that might be useful: my question on the NE gardening forum

  • donn_
    16 years ago

    gfult:

    Fields

    Genus
    Species
    Cultivar
    Common
    Sow Date
    Germ Date
    Days
    Transplant
    %TP
    Type
    Habit
    Height
    Width
    Foliage
    Flower
    Sun
    Soil
    Water
    Propagation
    Pruning
    Cultivation
    Notes
    Source
    Item#

    Legend
    Type
    P Perennial
    F Flower
    G Grass
    W Warm season
    C Cold season
    c/w Cold/Warm
    D Deciduous
    E Evergreen
    e Semi evergreen
    H Herb
    V Vegetable
    T Tree
    A Annual
    S Shrub

    Habit
    C Clumping
    E Erect
    U Upright
    M Matting
    W Weeping
    R Recumbent

    Sun/Soil/Water
    1 Least
    2
    3
    4
    5 Most

    I have a template for the spreadsheet if you need it. Send me an email, and I'll email it back to you.

  • hostaholic2 z 4, MN
    16 years ago

    Last count was about 340, don't have some planted last fall included in that. I also don't what may not have made it through this winter. Will have to wait a few weeks, as things are just starting to come up.

  • Donna
    16 years ago

    Oh, mercy! I'm afraid to count for fear of what my husband might say! I have an acre of ground with eight borders, all of which have at least 300 square feet in them, 3 of them twice or three times that size. As I am feeling Father Time breathing over my shoulder, I am trying to shift to more flowering shrubs and bulbs, and fewer perennials, but it's just such a sickness you see.......and there it is, it's so lovely, and it's so SMALL in that pot.........

  • leslie197
    16 years ago

    I have 359 entries in my Excel chart, including mostly perennials and some major shrubs and trees. I have a separate chart for bulb purchases, which are quite extensive. Most of the "landscape shrubs" are not on the list, nor are a lot of my early purchases for which I do not have cultivar names.

    My Excel list is much simpler than Donn's list. I use Name (this being the latin name & cultivar name), Common Name, Description, Color, Conditions, Size, Bloom Time, Location, Quantity, & Status (where & when purchased, living, died, moved or other current status, sickly, growing fast, needs to be moved, etc.).

    I usually spend a rainy late fall day inputting the data from the ID tags that came with the plants I purchased. I use the same chart (do not have to remake every year) saved on my computer as Blank Garden Table & change the heading to Additions with the current year. That way I know at a glance what was purchased each year. I then copy the data from that chart into the master list, which takes about a minute. The master list (actually all my lists) can be sorted by any category, such as name, location, color, or DIED :~) as needed.

    I use codes for the locations (usually a couple of letters) such as FW for Fence Bed West Side or WetC for Wet Corner Bed and a number which I take from my planting charts. I also use abbreviations and brief terms for the descriptions & I don't bother to describe plants I am familiar with unless it is different in some way, for example a dwarf or compact version, more erect, looser form, more colorful foliage etc. This keeps the inputting down to a minimum.

    Tender perennials, annuals, & tropicals get their tags taped onto blank paper in alphabetical order by common name and filed in a notebook at the end of the season. I don't bother with everything here, but listing new stuff, helps me track the combos that looked great from the so so ones, since I use a different color scheme every year and sometimes want to repeat something a year or two later.

  • steve22802
    Original Author
    16 years ago

    Leslie,

    I just delete plants off my spreadsheet when they occasionally die, but now that you mention it, it does seem like a good idea to keep track of the ones that don't survive so that I don't keep trying poor choices for my climate and soil! I know I've tried Eryngiums more than once and than don't seem to like my clay soil at all. (Maybe I should try planting one in a hole filled with sand and gravel...)

    - Steve

  • maureen_ottawa
    16 years ago

    I stopped using a spreadsheet when I went past 200. I have about 300 different varieties of irises, over 100 different hostas, a couple dozen daylilies, a couple dozen heurcheras/heucherella/tiarella, a dozen or so sedum and then on top of that maybe 50 other types of perennials.

    Each garden bed gets mapped about once every 3 years, as plants seem to get replaced at about that frequency.

  • WendyB 5A/MA
    16 years ago

    I use a spreadsheet for my Clematis collection. Each entry has a quantity field and if one dies, I change the quantity to 0. Then I hide the rows that are 0 so I don't have to look at them but they are there if I want to.

    I also have a column for 2003 Notes, 2004 Notes, 2005 Notes, etc. Once a year, I hide all the Note columns except last years notes. I make a new column for 2007 Notes and print it out. I hand enter notes as the season progresses and at the end of the year, I update the master.

  • garden_crazy
    16 years ago

    Wow, I guess I haven't added up lately......1016, including a couple of dozen things I have noted as "died". This also includes 64 mail order items due to arrive in about 2 weeks and does not include shrubs/trees. I love bareroot plants and Bluestone. -Those things just slip in anywhere - for awhile, just a little trowel plants them! Very, very few things in my yard are in their original site. - In fact, as soon as it warms up a little more, I'm outta here!

  • buyorsell888
    16 years ago

    Hundreds. I've been trying to type them up into lists but haven't gotten very far....

  • tillable2000
    16 years ago

    I have 1257 species of plants-I don't keep track of most cultivars of daylilies,daffodils and things like that since many of them were given to me and the donor didn't know the cultivar-- and not counting the ones on order and to be purchased this year.....what a terrible addiction this is. It's a good thing I'm not addicted to alcohol,,,my liver would have given out years ago. Just received an order from Seneca Hills yesterday,,,,,,,wow,,what gorgeous plants..

    Wanda

  • geoforce
    16 years ago

    A total count would run into thousands. I keep separate spreadsheets for some, but not all. As a start I have:

    876 varieties of Daylily
    34 varieties of Lilium
    63 varieties of epimedium
    28 varieties of hosta
    about 50 different hellebores not counting several hundred seedlings
    24 varieties of arisaema, most as recently sprouted seedlings
    33 varieties of daffodils

    I don't keep track of anything else in specifics, and the amount of data I keep for each of these types varies as well.

    George

  • highalttransplant
    16 years ago

    Okay, I need to show this thread to my DH, then he won't think my addiction is that bad, LOL! My garden was just started late last summer, so I probably only have about 50 different plants, but the season's young : )

    Donn, I would love to have a copy of the template you are using.

  • vegangirl
    16 years ago

    I did a spreadsheet years ago but my hard drive died and I hadn't backed it up. I know better now but haven't done another one.

    Donn, thanks for the ideas on organizing the spreadsheet.

    I'd say probably thousands! I have 509 named varieties of daylilies plus a lot that I don't know the names of, more than 40 cvs or species of daffodils, many other perennials, shrubs, trees, bulbs. Then there are all the natives in my bird area and in my woodland. I've been collecting plants for 35 years now. I really need to do the spreadsheet!
    VG

  • leslie197
    16 years ago

    I should have mentioned that on my master Excel list of 359 entries that I do not include daylilies (87 varieties that I know the name of), hosta (57), or clematis (23). Once I get about a dozen of something, I copy the data over into a new spreadsheet. No real reason, it is just easier to find things if you don't have to go through pages of different varieties of the same kind of plant. Also its easier to go shopping (& avoid buying duplicates) with the smaller lists too.

  • lemecdutex
    16 years ago

    Let's see, I have over 100 varieties of hydrangea, at least 300 varieties of roses, around 20 varieties of peonies, about 40 varieties of magnolia, dozens of different lupines, and more coming, about 10 or so species of poppy, about 50 different iris, 6 or 7 varieties of trillium, and that just barely scratches the surface. I should someday try to catalog everything, it might prove quite interesting!

    I have a friend with over 4000 varieties of roses alone in his garden. He's got tons of other stuff besides that, all on about 2 or 3 acres.

    --Ron

  • mad_nil
    16 years ago

    I just have to say WOW! Yinz (Pittsburgh for "all y'all") must have a lot of room to garden! I have about 80 different plants in my 100' x 14' space. There's still grass to get rid of, of course, so I'm far from done yet!

    Nil

  • springwatcher
    16 years ago

    After our northern Missouri spring in 06 we had lots of new plants due to the beautiful spring. This year all of the plants were up and a late freeze destroyed many of them along with trees and shrubs!! ouch!
    My question: Can anyone identify a plant foliage that grows in a thick circle with tall flowers in the middle?

  • lemecdutex
    16 years ago

    What do you mean by thick foliage? Do you mean big foliage, or literally thick (like an Agave), and what color of flowers. The first thing that popped in my mind, due to your location, is Verbascum.

    --Ron