GardenStew

I was surfing the web recently and came across a gardening forum I'd never seen listed before. I got curious and followed the link and came across GardenStew.com which bills itself as a "Home & Gardening Community." I got curious and started to investigate the forum and see what it had offered that you couldn't find at a large place like GardenWeb or Dave's Garden or a niche forum like YouGrowGirl.

At first I wasn't very impressed with the design of the gardening forum. The landing page looked like your average phpbb portal and it seems to be designed for people with smaller screen resolutions. I don't have a large computer screen but even on my screen there is a lot of empty white space to the right of the portal giving it a bit of a lopsided appearance.

Instead of just judging the site by the skin the forum software used I decided I'd join and experience the forum like a regular person instead of someone trolling for an entry for a gardening review blog. After I signed up I posted in the welcome thread that every forum has to have and was very surprised at the number of responses my "hello" thread received in such a short time. I looked around the forum some more and posted here and there and was surprised yet again. I commented on a thread about a Stapelia (Carrion Plant) and mentioned how I'd wanted to have one of those plants for a long time. Later that evening I got an email in my inbox informing me that I'd had a private message awaiting me back on GardenStew.

At first I was worried that perhaps a moderator, or worse the site's admin, thought I was posting too much in a short period of time or maybe I'd violated some rule after opting not to read the TOS for the site. Imagine my surprise when it was a private message from a forum member offering me cuttings from her Stapelia after reading my reply in the thread.

Aside from the friendly tone of the members I was most impressed with some of the modern add-ons the forum provides for free to the community. Every member gets a free blog and any place that promotes blogs to gardeners is OK by me. The forum also has a feed that you can subscribe to be kept updated of new posts and there is even a tool bar for your browser so similarly keep you updated of the goings on at the forum. The site even features a member's gallery to help you share your pictures on the forum.

The GardenStew forums don't have the depth of a GardenWeb or Dave's Garden or even the hipster feel of YouGrowGirl but it has features that I think speak to a more internet savvy gardener. You could join a large forum like GardenWeb or Dave's Garden and be small fish in a big pond or you can find a smaller forum like GardenStew and be a big fish in a small pond. With a diverse membership that is quick to embrace a new gardener when GardenStew says they're "the friendliest" it doesn't feel hyperbole.

I give GardenStew 4 out of 5 stars for the modern garden forum features and friendly community of gardeners.

Bryophyllum

Byrophyllum.com is the website dedicated to "the joys of cultivating plants of the genus Bryophyllum in the family of Crassulaceae." Byrophyllums (try saying that ten times really fast) are those plants commonly called "Mother of Thousands" or "Mother of Millions" amongst others. This website features information on plant identification and culture for these unique plants. It also has a gallery, and a really slow forum and exchange page.

The design of the website is pretty utilitarian and doesn't offer any frills but in away it is very apt because I don't find these succulent plants to be extraordinary. They're nice enough plants and I have a couple in my Cacti & Succulent collection but once you get over the "oh how neat" feeling of seeing the pups on the leaves you get over it. The Google ads on the site in the middle of the text could be described as intrusive but again it fits this plant perfectly. Because once you have one growing you'll be finding pups growing all over your growing space.

I give Bryophyllum.com ★ ★ ★ ★ out of 5 stars because it is a site dedicated to a specific plant. I have to admire the time and energy spent on keeping the site alive there should be more pages like this from plant lovers on the internet that share information about whatever plant you're passionate about.

If you have a garden related product or service that you'd like to have reviewed visit this blog.

My other gardening blog

Somni-Forum

I came across the Somni-Forum the other day while searching for something unrelated to poppies and took a look around, it's the forum for the website Poppies.org I don't know why I was surprised to find a forum dedicated to these wonderful plants but I was.

The forum is described as operating:

"under a "harm-reduction" philosophy, providing a nonjudgmental community-based atmosphere for frank and open discussions on such topics as Opium Poppies and Poppy Cultivation, Dried Poppy Pods and Poppy Seeds, Chronic Pain, Use and Abuse, Legal Issues, Addiction, Recovery and Drug Policy Reform."

The forum is one of those php message boards that I am such a fan of with nice, clean design and a lot of useful threads by some hard core poppy growers. Check out this forum if you're looking for information on starting poppies, I love how they don't have any ads on their board.

I give it ★ ★ ★ ★ out of five stars for the wealth of information they provide without annoying ads. Some sections of the poppy forum are restricted to forum members but as far as I could tell you didn't have to pay to sign up and post but they do registration only during specific times. Check out the main page for updates on when they'll be accepting more members.

If you have a garden related product or service that you would like to have reviewed and listed visit this blog and contact me.

My other gardening blog

Dave's Garden

I wish I could tell you all of these neat things about Dave's Garden but I can't. You see Dave's Garden requires you to register and be a paid subscriber to view most of their forums and that doesn't sit well with me. I'm sure they do it to keep their operating costs down and from having their servers strained by every internet search. But if they were really that concerned they could stop having their forums indexed and be done with it. Instead they take advantage of all of the benefits of having a high page rank without giving people on the internet anything in return, unless you want to sign up and pay.

I'm sure the content on their forums is every bit as good as the content on GardenWeb but on GardenWeb you can get it for free! Anyone searching the internet for gardening related info can easily access it and join if they want unlike at Dave's Garden. Yes I know that it costs money to run a site but I don't think Dave's Garden is really all that desperate those ads you see on the site are there for a reason-to make money and it has a base of subscribers which also bring it money.

Don't even get me started on the look of the site and forum or the horribly placed advertising that non paying members see when they come to Dave's Garden from a search.

I give Dave's Garden ★ ★ out of 5 stars. One for the Garden Watchdog and one because I know a lot of people on GW who also post there. If you're looking for a gardening forum where you can read the threads before you sign up and that won't cost you money to join check the list on this blog for more references.

My other gardening blog

Craigslist

Craigslist is the mega popular internet job board you probably heard about on the news or read about in the paper but you've never actually been to it. Well if you haven't been to it you should...it's not just a place for your politician to meet a woman for a lunch time encounter. It's probably one of the top 5 greatest ideas to spring from the Al Gores' invention of the internet. I'm kidding.

If you've never been or don't understand what "a Craigslist" is, I actually have heard newscasters call the site "a Craigslist" and if I had paid better attention in H.S English I could make a highbrow joke about how they're using the word as a verb or something, it's really simple. Think of Craigslist as the classified section of your newspaper but really it is more than that. Yes, you can sell something, hire someone, find a job, get stuff for free or give away stuff you don't want to haul to the city dump but Craigslist also has forums for every interest. And if you like to spend your days inside your room staring at your computer screen typing away furiously about how the U.N is going to take over America one day check out the local politics forums. If you want to talk to people about what the numbers on LOST mean, check out the Television Forum, if you want to talk about Britney Spears exposing her Lady Garden check out the Celebrity Gossip forum and if you want to talk about gardening there's also a forum for you.

The site doesn't registration for all of it's forums but you can post to the Garden Forum there without signing up, if you decide to use the "classifieds" on CL please follow the rules for your ad, one ad a week-you can post as many times as you want in the forums but please take a minute to familiarize yourself with the forums and rules. Because CL is so popular you get all kinds of people. Watch out for the trolls (you'll learn) and follow the posting guidelines and you'll be fine.

I like the gardening forum there for a quick question or I check in to see if I have an answer to someone's question. But because the board doesn't require registration is can get rather racy at times and sometimes the condescending tone of some of the participants (you'll learn) can get to be too much.

Often times I come across ads in the free section from people who are looking to give away something gardening related. Check out your local section by changing the city location on the main page.

I give Craigslist ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ out of 5 stars. Even though the gardening forum is nothing to write home about being on CL is an experience unlike others. If you're offended easily maybe the forums aren't for you but you can always use CL in conjunction with a site like Freecycle.

My other gardening blog

You Grow Girl

You Grow Girl was founded by Gaila Trail (no joke here) in February of 2000 and grew into an on-line community that has drawn a cult following of "Hipster Gardeners" and people (mostly women) who like to craft. You can find a lot of cool projects on the site if you like working with your hands or you can participate on the forum.

The best feature for me is the design of the site and how it seamlessly blends the look of the forum. It's beautiful and looks like the kind of forum I'd participate it (what do you mean you've seen me there?) and what garden forums should look like. I really hate ugly gardening forums that look like they're stuck in the the early 90s of internet design (except for you GardenWeb I love you warts and all) and I stay away from them. But YGG is different it's a nice looking site/forum and the forums have some cool bells and whistles. If you're looking for a gardening forum where the people are pleasant check it out. The only draw back for me is that the forum seems to move like molasses sometimes.

I give You Grow Girl ★ ★ ★ ★ out of five stars. I didn't give it five because it is a little slow compared to other gardening forums on the internet with more participation.

If you have a gardening related product or service visit this blog and contact me.

My other gardening blog

GardenWeb

GardenWeb.com bills itself as "the largest gardening site on the Web." And if you've ever visited the site and explored the collection of forums available you would have to agree. I've been a member there for about a year now and I'm constantly surprised by the additions to the list of forums. No matter what your interest in gardening is you're bound to find a forum where you can discuss what you want. But what makes GardenWeb special to me is the people that post there. You won't find a more knowledgeable bunch on the internet. Not only are the people knowledgeable but I'm often amazed with how generous they are in trading seeds and plants with other people. When I joined I was "adopted" by a GardenWeb member who shared a lot of great plants and bulbs with me. Perhaps I'm jaded but before then I couldn't fathom packing up and sending your plants to another person that you'd never met before. The experience taught me a lot and shaped my idea of what we as gardeners are suppose interact with others.

On GardenWeb you will find plant/area specific forums, as well as forums to conduct trades. Make sure to read the FAQ so you know how you're suppose to conduct yourself and what you and the other person should expect when trading. And if you can't figure something out you can always ask someone.

What I don't like about GardenWeb is the design and feel to the place. It looks old and clunky and it doesn't offer all of the bells and whistles that people who are familiar with the more modern amenities of boards built on phpBB. But like your favorite rusted shovel it still works although I hear that there are some changes being planned for the Spring of '07. Lets hope they go over better than the changes that created the mass exodus after iVillage took over the forum.

The site requires registration to post, but it's free to browse. I give GW ★ ★ ★ ★ out of five stars because it could use some improvement.

If you have a garden product or service you'd like for me to review visit this blog and contact me.

My Other Gardening Blog