Home   Ideas Genie - Software for Plant Lovers - Demonstration of primary features
Adding a plant (Method A) p1 p2 p3 p4 p5 p6 ~ Adding a plant (Method B) p1 p2 p3 p4 p5 p6 p7 p8 p9 ~ Adding a Specimen p1 p2 p3 p4 p5
Editing a specimen p1 p2 p3 p4 p5 p6 Specimen Events p1 p2 p3 p4 p5 Google Search p1 p2 p3 p4 p5 p6 p7 p8 RHS Search p1 p2 p3 p4 p5


This demonstration has been created using a Plants List sent by a plant collector.
Ive created an empty database, and added some 45 plants to the database.
Using the plants from the collection, the demo shows how to use the key features of Ideas Genie to:

  • Add plants to the database. Two methods are described:
    Method A
    Method B
  • Add specimens
    How to add your specimens/accessions to the database.
    When you add a specimen, you also define a     Location for your accession.
  • Record specimen events
  • Edit a specimen
  • Use the Google search feature
    This can be used to search for photos or information about your plants
  • Use the RHS search feature
    The RHS website can be used to:
    a) Verify if a plant name is correct
    b) Identify suppliers of a plant

Comparison with the software products: BUD2 and Atlantis Botanic Garden.
The terminology is different, since the software is designed to be suitable for a wider user base, from amateur gardeners to professionals.
Amateur gardeners get their information from good reference books.
In the books readily available, the terms Taxon, taxa, taxanomic tree, accessions are rarely if ever mentioned.
The term binomial is mentioned in the section Botany for the Gardener in the very good reference book: RHS A-Z Encyclopedia of Garden Plants. I suspect that most amateur gardeners would not be familiar with the term.
In line with the RHS A-Z Encyclopedia of Garden Plants Ideas Genie allows recording of the following ranks of the taxonomic tree.

  • Family
  • Genus
  • Species (species epithet)

Also in line with the RHS A-Z Encyclopedia of Garden Plants Ideas Genie allows entry of:

  • Subspecies
  • Varietas (variety) and forma (form)
  • Cultivars

Going one step further Ideas Genie allows entry of:

  • collector
  • author

Unlike BUD2 and Atlantis Botanic Garden, Ideas Genie does not have entry points since each program allows access to:

  • plant names (equivalent to species?
  • garden areas (equivalent to locations)
  • specimens (equivalent to accessions)

The methods of accessing the above are illustrated in the screenshots in this project.

The Web based plants list for this project
The program Reviews - GA032 was designed to allow users to log reviews of plants.
In reference books and on the internet, plant descriptions and plant care advice can be quite different for many reasons - e.g. locality.
Using GA032, the user can record the various comments (reviews) in a logical and easily accessibly manner.
One very important spin-off resulted from the Reviews program.
The structure of the reviews section of the database was adapted to generate web based Plant Lists. The feature became known as the Web Page Generator (abbreviated to WPG).
Users of the software can now create their own website. ideasforgardens.com have provided a server with free web space for users who wish to use the tools to go on line.
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The plants used in this demo have been used to create a WPG web site. Heres the link:
My Plants Collection
Click on the plant names.
You’ll find photos for:

  • Androsace cylindrica
  • Androsace himalaica
  • Androsace muscoidea
  • Androsace vandelii x a. hirtella (incorrect photo - its actually Androsace vandelii - demo only)
  • Androsace villosa var. barbulata (incorrect photo - its actually a photo of Androsace villosa)
  • Lewisia sierrae

 

You need to have Ideas Genie, Ideas Genie Pro or Bonsai Genie installed on your computer to follow these lessons. If you don’t have a copy then click one of the the links below:
Ideas Genie-Software for Plant Lovers ~ Ideas Genie Pro-Software for Plants & Gardens ~ Bonsai Genie