You might think that gardeners, by their very earthy natures, would not gravitate to the high tech world of personal
computers. That certainly is true of some.
I won't name names but all of us know gardeners who wear their computer aversions as proudly as their master gardener name badges. But knowing how inquisitive and seeking these folks are, I can't help lamenting about all of the wonderful, easy to find free information that are missing by choosing not to log on.
Luckily, master gardener David Sojourner is not one of them. He showed a rapt audience how a computer can be a useful tool for creating and maintaining garden journals and records, for gathering gardening information and for using software for garden design and other topics.
I've always done most of my garden research with good ole Google. But David, who has been working with personal computers since the 1980s, said a single source search engine like Google will miss up to 71 percent of the best sites.
Multi-source search engines such as dogpile.com and mamma.com sift through other search engines for pertinent sites. And then there are some specific search engines for garden-related information that we should all add to our Favorites or Bookmark lists:
For free landscape design software and ideas, he recommends Better Homes & Gardens at
http://www.bhg.com/bhg/gardening/index.jhtml
Garden designs from Garden Gate magazine at gardengatemagazine.com/extra/indes.php
A website that talks to you so you learn how to pronounce the scientific names of plants is
taunton.com/finegardening/ and click on the pronunciation guide under resources.
A computer is a wondrous tool for a curious person. You can check out any trivial or monumental fact with a couple of keystrokes.
I can't get out of my mind a statement made by author Sharon Lovejoy when she spoke recently in Memphis.
She said she gave up doing interior decorating work in favor of gardening because she would rather be around people who are inquisitive rather than acquisitive.
Amen, Sharon, but let's make exceptions for the urge to acquire plants!
