User talk:Jomegat

I do most of my work over in Wikibooks, so it's best to talk to me there.

substitution of bcp and bcp+
Hi Jim. It's better not to substitute these any more, because there might be some changes made and it's better not to have to make manual switches later. (The bcp3 template has to be substituted for other reasons, since it includes other templates within it). If you don't have time to add directly to the log pages, just add " *~ " on a line below the template, rather than resubstituting. If you do have time to use the log pages, that's better because otherwise someone else eventually has to move the signature (usually me ).

BTW: I scribbled some notes on how to use the bcp3 template here... I'll need to clean it up over the weekend a bit, but it tells the steps involved (it looks complicated, but it only takes me about 2 mins to set one up, and once they're set up, they don't need to be redone again). --SB_Johnny | PA! 10:27, 10 August 2007 (UTC)


 * Yeah - I stopped doing that before I read this. I'll check out the instructions on bcp3 as soon as I get a chance.  Saw lots of flowers today. --Jomegat 23:58, 14 August 2007 (UTC)


 * Cool... aside from making the big warning about the page being too large disappear (over 32kb seems to be a problem for some browsers), it sure makes typo-fixing a lot easier :). BTW: if you want to add the categories and such to the main BCP pages (this enables the DPL to work), see this diff for an example. I've also been adding templates on wikipedia to articles about plants where we have data from at least 2 regions... see w:Template:Wikiversity-bc (I'll be adding those to the wikibooks garden chapters as well when I get back into winter editing mode). --SB_Johnny | PA! 11:18, 15 August 2007 (UTC)


 * Oh one question: Are you sure H. Macrophylla was blooming? The bracts persist on the plant long after the flowers have finished (you can tell it's blooming by the presence of anthers). --SB_Johnny | PA! 11:36, 15 August 2007 (UTC)
 * I dunno. It has huge blue blossoms on it and looks just like the bottom photo here. If it's not blooming, then I need an education. I'll look for anthers when I get home tonight. --Jomegat 14:39, 16 August 2007 (UTC)


 * Yeah, they're definitely tricky, especially the moptop forms (where the anthers are barely visible on hidden inner flowers). Might be good to log it anyway though for key-making purposes. There are some others like that such as Hellebores which have the same issue. --SB_Johnny | PA! 16:19, 16 August 2007 (UTC)


 * Yes - they do have anthers. --Jomegat 23:12, 16 August 2007 (UTC)

bcp3
Heya Jim. I thought I had left you this link before, but I have some notes on the use of the BCP creator template here: User:SB Johnny/sandbox 6. Looks more complicated than it is... I can generally get the whole thing done within 2 minutes or so (and then once it's done, it's done). I'll have to go over how to update the regional keys with you at some point too :).

FYI, Wikiversity is trying to get local checkusers now (the troublemakers have begun to arrive, unfortunately). See Candidates_for_Custodianship for details.--SB_Johnny | PA! 09:43, 23 August 2007 (UTC)
 * Yes, you did leave me that link once before. We'll hafta mark that up to old age or lack of sleep. --Jomegat 02:02, 24 August 2007 (UTC)
 * OK, maybe you can check this for goofs: BCP/Gaultheria procumbens. --Jomegat 13:18, 24 August 2007 (UTC)


 * Heh, better than most of mine (I rarely fill out that much of the description) :). I added insect pollination and switched from herb to shrub (even though it's low growing, it still actually has woody stems).
 * Fair enough edits! I had no idea whether it was insect pollinated or not, so I left that blank.  Wintergreen was one of the first plants I learned when I moved to NH three years ago.  My woods are covered in it. --Jomegat 11:43, 25 August 2007 (UTC)
 * I'm envious then... I have a hell of a time growing it here! --SB_Johnny | PA! 11:45, 25 August 2007 (UTC)

Project discussion page
See Bloom Clock/Project Discussion for more about the templates, categories, keys, etc. :) --SB_Johnny | talk 10:24, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

Mollugo verticillata
I just happened to know that one :). --SB_Johnny | talk 18:21, 11 September 2007 (UTC)

Please don't forget...
When you log something for the first time during any given month, don't forget to add the bcpm template and the month's category to the profile page. The category in particular is needed for the DPL to pick it up for key creation (e.g., Bloom Clock/Flowers seen in September in New Hampshire/DPL, which is used to create Bloom Clock/Flowers seen in September in New Hampshire). I'm not sure if I got all the ones you logged this month. --SB_Johnny | talk 10:04, 12 September 2007 (UTC)

Category &rarr; template
Hi Jim... sorry I missed you this weekend! I'll be in the area around Christmas... have you ever been to Crane Beach?

I switched the Southeastern PA categories a week ago, and when I was categorizing for the plants I saw in New Hampshire, it became clear that it would be better to do this for your neck of the woods as well (if nothing else, it makes keystroking a hell of a lot easier). So, if you're logging any new plants this month, use bcp/nhamp/10 rather than the. The template currently is set not to add the month (so Mike's bot doesn't get confused), but once the replacement is done, I'll re-add it.

The template currently adds pages only to Category:BCP/Flora of New Hampshire... part of the idea of using the templates is to allow for regional flora lists (for example, we could later modify both the and the  series of templates to come up with a flora of the Eastern United States, etc.), see Category:BCP/Flora of Pennsylvania for what that looks like.

Three other (non-monthly) templates are available too: bcp/nhamp/np (native plants), bcp/nhamp/ip (invasive or naturalized plants),  and bcp/nhamp/gp (cultivated plants). Those are also for making flora, but also for "gardening lists" (e.g.: search for native plants that are also cultivated, or search for cultivated plants that are not invasive, etc.).

BTW: please add Bloom Clock/Project Discussion to your watchlist, if you haven't already.--SB_Johnny | talk 08:50, 11 October 2007 (UTC)


 * Yeah, I was pretty bummed about not getting to meet you in real life too. I've never been to Crane Beach.  I don't get into MA very much, though I do find myself in ME from time to time.


 * Have you considered adding Category:BCP/Flora of New Hampshire and Category:BCP/Flora of Pennsylvania to Category:BCP/Flora of the Eastern United States?  I started using hierarchical categories over on Wikibooks, and I really like the way that's working out.


 * BTW, I was wondering what the np, ip, and gp abbreviations meant. Thanks for the definitions.  I find that I have little interest in gp plants, so you will find that my log entries are heavily weighted to np and ip.  --Jomegat 12:38, 11 October 2007 (UTC)


 * Oh that would make sense. The point of the template though is that we could add Category:BCP/Flora of the Eastern United States to the templates themselves (e.g., add it to bcp/sepa/10 and the plants would appear both in Category:BCP/Flora of Pennsylvania and Category:BCP/Flora of the Eastern United States! That way it would be simple to come up with florae for both small and large regions without having to add a new category to every profile.
 * BTW: have a look at bcp3+. It allows you to add more stuff from the start, if you're so inclined. --SB_Johnny | talk 13:11, 11 October 2007 (UTC)


 * One more thing to check out: a fine-grained key! Bloom Clock/Keys/Southeastern Pennsylvania/October --SB_Johnny | talk 13:30, 11 October 2007 (UTC)

additions...
Did you mean to sign these? --SB_Johnny | talk 14:18, 19 October 2007 (UTC)


 * Nope. Those are all plants I have on my property, but they had all spent their blossoms before you introduced me to the BCP.  I have pictures of some of them in bloom, but I'll have to go through them and extract some dates.  I didn't have time when I added them (and indeed, I have several more to add).  Since blossoms are getting harder and harder to find in these parts, I figured I'd save some of that work for the winter. When spring rolls around I'll be on the lookout and ready to log some times.  --Jomegat 00:26, 20 October 2007 (UTC)


 * Ah, ok... they'll probably be on Bloom Clock/2008 part one though eh? :) I actually have several thousand pictures to go through as well from this year, which I'll be nixing from the hard disk and logging onto the clock. Darklama is also working on making a non-substituted version of Bcp3, which should be much easier to use. --SB_Johnny | talk 10:09, 20 October 2007 (UTC)


 * Doh! Yes, they should go on Bloom Clock/2008 part one.  Same with Epigaea repens.  I added that one a couple of months ago with the same intent, forgetting all about the time-nature of this project (even though it's been staring me in the face).  Maybe I should move those into my sandbox until the time comes. --Jomegat 12:29, 20 October 2007 (UTC)

template change again
Sorry about that :). You'll probably notice some pages are using a markedly different template now... I tried to avoid the ones other people were logging but one of them was using a very old template.

It's actually a bit easier now once you get the hang of it. Rather than putting 2 templates on the profile, you just use one now (adds a category and links to a key in one stroke). I'll explain in detail on Bloom Clock/Project Discussion when I get the chance (probably early tomorrow). --SB_Johnny | talk 14:42, 25 October 2007 (UTC)

fruit logs
I sort of mentioned it a while ago, but never went to far with it (been busy trying to resolve the template issues). If you want to log them, just alter the /Logs page (like BCP/Lycopersicon/Logs is now). The idea is to eventually have keys for fruits as well, so that if someone goes for a walk in the woods and notices interesting fruits, they can potentially use the keys (potentially because it's actually much harder to describe a fruit) to find what plant they belong to (and then follow to wikipedia, etc., to find out if they can eat them, grow them, etc.). I'm not sure how the fruit logs should be displaed yet (they might actually belong on a second log page), but for now I've just been non-including them on the key and profile pages. --SB_Johnny | talk 12:58, 28 October 2007 (UTC)


 * OK, thanks. I'll start logging fruits as I see them, though as in the past, my logs will likely be limited to wild plants (which is where my interests inexplicably lie).


 * BTW, last spring I started working on a project run by the NH Fish & Game Department. It's not terribly convenient to volunteer for them, but I could see that it would be a lot more convenient if they ran it on Wikiversity.  It's basically a bloom clock for amphibians and reptiles. The main difference is that they want some pretty specific location data, so it would not be sufficient to just sign a username and rely on the user's profile for location data.  --Jomegat 13:14, 28 October 2007 (UTC)


 * Yeah, I remember you mentioning that before. Maybe it could be done using specific "herping sites" (I'd certainly like to log the amphibians and reptiles I see here on the farm, as we have quite an abundance of them). I'd like to design templates for those as well as birds and bugs over the winter, so I'll keep you up to date on that (still have about 400 bloom clock ones to update to the "bot-fixable" version now... templates for the other clocks will be bot fixable from the start so no-one will have to deal with unbottable updates again). --SB_Johnny | talk 14:06, 28 October 2007 (UTC)

here it is :)
http://en.wikiversity.org/w/index.php?title=BCP%2FBerteroa_incana&diff=179853&oldid=179651

Detals here: Bloom Clock/Creating and editing plant pages

--SB_Johnny | talk 09:23, 31 October 2007 (UTC)


 * Thanks for fixing up my mess. This has been a good week for me for identifying unknowns.  I went to the Kearsarge Indian Museum on Sunday (on the other side of the mountain where we were going to hike).  We ran out of time before we got to hike through "The Medicine Woods" where they ID about a hundred plants used "medicinally" by the Native Americans, but they had a few inside the museum - one of which was "Sweet fern" or more properly, Comptonia peregrina.  I've been trying to id that one for six months.  It's not a fern at all (which threw me for a while), but rather a shrub.  It's not in any of my tree/shrub books either, though it is in my Edible Wild Plants book (Peterson).  After I found it there I began thumbing through my Peterson Wildflowers book when I came across Berteroa incana.  So it was a good week.  --Jomegat 14:12, 31 October 2007 (UTC)

hrrrm...
Hi Jim. I saw you had made some shifts on the old templates from, e.g., bcp/nhamp/9 to bcpm/nhamp/9. There's a problem with that, unfortunately, because that causes categorizations to be carried to the keys (that's why the regional data appears in a different spot on the new templates).

Anyway, would you be willing to try your hand at switching out the substituted templates with the current ones? This will be the last "manual" switch, as the current template is designed to be bot editable. Unfortunately it's a lot more time consuming to make this switch than it was for the old ones. Mostly I've been using bcp3-fixx to update them (bcp3-fix does the same thing, but doesn't add an image, and bcp3 has the dialog at the top for creating the log page).

I'm afraid to say it really is a b--ch to make the changeover. I've been mostly focused on the very old ones (which don't use the div)... if you want to break things into smaller bunches, I've made tracking DPLs for the PA keys (e.g. Bloom Clock/Keys/Southeastern Pennsylvania/August/Maintenance). It was great to see mike's bot run through yesterday and prove the value of the new template (the old one could not be updated by bot), but those 300 or so old ones are really getting me down now :). --SB_Johnny | talk 14:28, 7 November 2007 (UTC)


 * Hi Johnny,
 * Sorry about that mix up. It didn't dawn on my that bcpm/nhamp/9 and bcp/nhamp/9 were two different things until you pointed it out.  That's what happens when your modus operandi is cut-n-paste.


 * I'd be happy to help out with the changeover, but I'm gonna need some hand-holding. --Jomegat 16:34, 8 November 2007 (UTC)


 * Actually it's not that complicated, just a bit time consuming due to the radical nature of the change. Here's how I do them:


 * 1. I usually just delete the very top until the scientific name, and then delete everything between that and the image name, and then the "thumb|200px..." part before the image description. Type in the common name after the scientific name (don't for get the pipe!), add the closing brackets after the image description, and voila, you have all you need for bcp3-fixx:


 * 2. If there was anything filled in for the identifying characteristics box, I copy that part before hitting save, and then just re-add it after I re-open to edit (all the fields are in the same order on the bloom clock plant top template. Leave the stuff at the bottom of the page intact, so you can use whatever categories and templates are there to fill in the fields on the new templates.
 * 3. After that, just copy the monthly data things (make sure to add an "m" to activate the key links), and type in whatever I know off hand. You can usually get the family name from wikipedia (if not there, try commons). You can usually figure out the leaf complexity and arrangement from the photos and drawings on commons.


 * A good example is this one: I forgot to use the subst, so you can see plainly what I did here, then here (adding the subst), and finally here. Once you've done a few, it's easy enough, but not fast (though I'm getting a lot faster after doing almost 200 now).


 * All of the pages using old templates will be on the maintenance lists: see Category:Bloom Clock maintenance/NHAMP (the template version tracking is last list on those pages). If you can peck away at the New Hampshire ones, I'll get back to work on the spring and early summer ones on the Pennsylvania maintenance lists. --SB_Johnny | talk 14:23, 11 November 2007 (UTC)

google maps
Heh, you read my mind :). We had one of those for a web forum I was on a few years ago using frapper (http://www.frappr.com)... I haven't used the google one, but it might be better. --SB_Johnny | talk 15:13, 16 April 2008 (UTC)


 * I'm not sure, really. I think making individual maps for each species would be nice, but it would also be a huge amount of work! --SB_Johnny | talk 10:48, 20 April 2008 (UTC)

My turn :-)
Almost worse than having no blooms to log is having too many blooms to log and not a lot of time :-(. --SB_Johnny | talk 00:52, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

Got it :)
Template:Bcpm/nhamp/5. --SB_Johnny | talk 12:56, 1 May 2008 (UTC)

Oh by the way: I did some work on the Fruit Clock... let me know what you think so far. --SB_Johnny | talk 12:58, 1 May 2008 (UTC)


 * Huh... one other thing I just noticed: I'm pretty sure you're the only one using the 2008 part one list now. If you're adding new plants, don't forget to add to Bloom Clock/Master List too. I've kind of given up on the 1/2 year lists, because it became too much to keep track of when the seasons turn (it was really bad when I switched it in June last year, because there were hundreds of plants that were blooming in both half-years).
 * Didn't get the word! That page (or rather, the Bloom Clock/Current page is the one I keep in my bookmarks.  I'll make the change. --Jomegat 00:20, 5 May 2008 (UTC)

You win the prize :)
BCP/Tussilago farfara is our 600th profile. --SB_Johnny | talk 11:53, 11 May 2008 (UTC)
 * How cool is that? I was pretty excited when I identified it too.  It's one in my edible wild plants book (Peterson) that I had been looking for.  They used to use it as a cough medicine, and that's where the name comes from.  Tussilago means "cough" (as in Robitussin I suppose!) Peterson says you can make a candy from it, and I might give that a go.  --Jomegat 13:38, 11 May 2008 (UTC)
 * Well, be careful... I've seen Hawkweed in New Hampshire and it looks quite similar (and is rather toxic). --SB_Johnny | talk 15:30, 11 May 2008 (UTC)

New Template Version
You might have noticed that new profiles created using bcp3 now have a number of changes in the bottom template (changed on Monday, then I haven't had much time since then to get a note out). The main changes involve the fields which previously required the use of additional templates (such as bcp/white for white flowering plants). These "embedded" templates have caused a great deal of confusion among some of the new contributors.

On the new template, each of the colors has it's own field. To mark a plant as possible blooming in that color, simply put a "y" or "yes" after the equal sign (similarly for marking plants as herbaceous, etc.). Similarly for all the new fields

For the moment, "forb" should be used for any plant that has no woody parts above ground and is not a vine (e.g., BCP/Hemerocallis has a "y" for both "herbaceous =" and "forb =", while BCP/Ipomoea hederacea has a "y" for both "herbaceous = " and "vine = "). Note that annuals, grasses, sedges, etc. should also be classified as forbs or the time being.

Mike's bot will come through and update the older pages hopefully sometime in the next few days. The old fields will still work for now... several categories will allow us to keep track of which profiles use the older versions (I couldn't figure out an easy way to get the bot to redo the data, so we'll have to do that manually).

Note that the log pages are a bit different now as well, using an (updatable) template instead of text, and using headers differently to allow grouping by year. These can easily be updated by adding to the top of the page, then deleting the old text and moving the logs.--SB_Johnny | talk 09:40, 16 May 2008 (UTC)

Could you give me some feedback?
Heya Jim. Just wanted to see how the new template version is working for you. After a few pages I've actually found it a lot easier to use (or at least less time consuming since you don't have to do quite so many entries). New log pages also seem more sensible, and nicer when you hit "edit" from the profile page (now you can just sign on the last line, rather than looking at all the noinculde stuff).

The goal is to make it "grandmother-friendly"... hopefully the new template and log versions will be easier to learn for new contributors and people less familiar with a "template-rich environment". --SB_Johnny | talk 18:52, 18 May 2008 (UTC)


 * Well, I think it's quite a bit easier to use than it was, almost requiring no thought. I hated having to remember if I was supposed to use bcp or bcpm, etc.


 * I just got back from an extended dog-walking excursion. I finally remembered the identity of a plant that has been up for a while, but has just now bloomed - Lily-of-the-valley.  We've got them in spades here, though so far, I've only seen one in bloom.  I also logged my first (actually, the BCP's first) Painted Trillium today too.  It was a productive walk!  I might upload my photos shortly if they came out OK.  There aren't that many on the commons. --Jomegat 18:56, 18 May 2008 (UTC)

Still need some of the &*%^(* templates ;-)
Heya Jim. Don't forget the monthly tags when logging (e.g. bcpm/nhamp/5). I'm finding them especially handy now from last year's, because I can go through the categories when trying to remember what I saw on a walk or at work (it's even better the second year, since I can jog my memory for earlier occurances using the next month's category.

BTW, are you sure you didn't mean to log Polygonatum biflorum rather than BCP/Polygonatum odoratum? P. odoratum is a cultivated plant (native to Europe), I'm pretty sure biflorum is the only native. --SB_Johnny | talk 11:03, 26 May 2008 (UTC)


 * Hi Johnny. Yes, that should have been P. biflorum.  I was doing a "cat's eye" hike when I found it.  One of my friends and fellow Pathfinder staff members had gone around the woods we were camping in and stapled reflective tape to several trees.  When it got dark we went looking for them and made the circuit.  As always, I kept my eyes close to the ground when I found the Solomon's seal.  I took a couple of pictures, and they turned out half-way decent, considering that it was almost completely dark outside.


 * Should I "unlog" P. odoratum, leave the page in place, and create a new page & log for P. biflorum?, or should I move the page? --Jomegat 23:20, 26 May 2008 (UTC)
 * Nevermind. I see that you have logged a few observations for P. odoratum so I unlogged my observation and created a new page. Thanks for the correction. --Jomegat 01:18, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

re: Image move
I couldn't find the image file, but in any case there's no way to rename image files :). On commons, just re-upload under the right name, then tag the misnamed image with . --SB_Johnny | talk 08:36, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

you forgot:

 * You keep at least one flora in the bathroom
 * When you're too busy to log, you take lots of photos so you can go back and enter data during the winter
 * After your friends ask about your family, they ask how the bloom clock is coming along

--SB_Johnny | talk 14:18, 4 June 2008 (UTC)

Fixes
If you're interested, I wrote Bloom Clock/Maintenance, which explains a lot of the tracking categories and adjustments needed for the new templates. Still have to write up about the middle template, keys, interwiki links, etc., but at least it's a start :).

I also made some new DPL templates for key generation. More on that later. --SB_Johnny | talk 10:34, 5 June 2008 (UTC)
 * Yeah, I'm interested and have already started. I quickly ran into trouble though with BCP/Maianthemum racemosum.  Maianthemum racemosum lists a taxonomy that is in disagreement with the USDA PLANTS Profile.  I went with the USDA, but I wonder if there's a way to handle that? Maybe we just choose one. --Jomegat 13:15, 5 June 2008 (UTC)
 * More digging. This diff shows where the taxonomy was changed in Wikipedia.  Some googling shows both taxonomies, so I don't know which one is right.  Depends on who you ask. --Jomegat 13:26, 5 June 2008 (UTC)
 * Oddly enough, Wikipedia is often the most reliable source for such things nowadays (the botanists have been doing a lot of reorganization these days, so Wikipedia tends to be more up-to-date due to the difficulties in updating non-wiki databases).
 * Note though that in the example you gave they were changing subfamily and order, not family :). --SB_Johnny | talk 13:34, 5 June 2008 (UTC)
 * Oh one more thing if you're fiddling around on wp: creates a link back to the clock (which is probably why googling "bloom clock" brings you straight to Wikiversity now). You can also make stub articles with a photo quite easily using this template (if you can use bcp3, that one's a snap :-). --SB_Johnny | talk 13:42, 5 June 2008 (UTC)
 * One more "BTW": as of this moment there are 689 profiles. Race you to 700! --SB_Johnny | talk 16:46, 5 June 2008 (UTC)
 * Nice template. I whipped up an article on Lysimachia quadrifolia in about a minute.  As soon as these things bloom again I'll take a better picture and re-upload it. --Jomegat 18:32, 5 June 2008 (UTC)

Huge favor...
Heya Jim. I'm so busy these days that I'm mostly just photographing plants (for winter logging fun!), but I have been trying to make pages for new plants (as in new to me...I really do have a small collection of floras in the bathroom!), or just plants I didn't get around to logging next year.

One favor to ask you though: if you have time, could you lend a hand updating the old log pages? You just use , like this, but using "subst" so the diff ends up looking like this, and then if necessary fixing the archives like this. If it's not clear, let me know... very tired now and I still have to pick the strawberries and milk the goats. --SB_Johnny | talk 22:14, 17 June 2008 (UTC)
 * Hi Johnny.
 * I did 13 of them so far. I'll prolly do a few more before I turn in tonight, but I've gotta make my rounds on the Innerwebs first. 13 down, 465 to go! (according to Category:Bloom Clock log pages using old template) --Jomegat 02:55, 18 June 2008 (UTC)
 * BTW, I logged several seasonal firsts (for me) today. The carrots opened up today, as did the St John's wort and Common Milkweed.  Tomorrow I may get to log some Verbascum.  Yesterday the Lysimachia quadrofolia bloomed, which is great because a lot of other plants are shutting off the flower making factories now.  Pink Lady's Slippers, False (and true) Lily-of-the-valley, Starflower, and Cancer-roots are all done now. --Jomegat 03:02, 18 June 2008 (UTC)
 * Oh I just meant "fix them when you run across them"... that's really not as urgent as the other needs (like fixing the color and type stuff on the bottom template of older profiles).
 * Summer does slow down a bit for the natives, especially in forested ecosystems. Meadow plants should be slowly sparking up though... saw my first evil purple plant flowering yesterday, actually (in a garden, not in my wet meadow yet).
 * Unrelated news: looks like your may logs pretty much match "Mid spring" (see comparison worksheet: that's May in SEPA too), so I'm going to add the categories :-). Oddly enough, the April result matches slightly better to late winter... I guess spring is a bit more ephemeral in NH. --SB_Johnny | talk 11:08, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

Watchlist
Thought you might want a DPL watchlist... this one isn't for wiki pages, but of plants to keep an eye out for :-). If you're using it, remember to "toggle" it after each session by making a near-null edit hit the space bar twice below the dpl codes and save... this refreshes the cache. --SB_Johnny | talk 08:54, 2 July 2008 (UTC)
 * That's pretty cool. Thanks!  With the beginning of this month I am beginning to close the circle.  I joined BCP in late July last year, so with last night's logging I was able to fill in some obvious gaps.  Of course, this watchlist shows that there are more to come.  I was quite surprised yesterday to find a black locust in bloom.  Most of them quit long ago.  Outliers are cool!  BTW, I started a blog last week.  A lot of it deals with the BCP, but other things are in there too.  If you're interested, you can see it at http://jomegat.wordpress.com/ --Jomegat 12:47, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

Next landmark
13 to go :-). --SB_Johnny talk 10:48, 10 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Alright! I have a few unidentifieds that I'll be able to add as soon as I can identify them.  Unless they're already there, of course. --Jomegat 12:09, 10 August 2008 (UTC)

Fallopia, etc.
Well, probably not the most targeted biocontrol out there, but I've found that goats absolutely love the stuff!

We need to chat about setting up the "global seasons" over winter... I want to use DPL to compare your logs vs. mine, and see if we can come up with a good result. I won't finish my logging until sometime early January though... I've mostly just been photographing this year so that I can have something to do in winter (assuming the Wikiversity dramas are done and through by then) :-).

Speaking of dramas: Cormaggio is the next up for CU (see sitenotice... he's a 'crat and a helpful one at that), and you might want to have a peek at the latest blowup, especially since this could potentially overlap into Wikibooks (I'm keeping an eye out, but haven't seen any reason for concern as yet).

Also, did you get my email? The Sunday after turkey-day looks like a window for me. --SB_Johnny talk 16:45, 14 October 2008 (UTC)
 * I found another stand of F. japonica today. It's in a "secret park" near my church.  There are no signs telling people about this park - just a gravel road off the highway that leads down to a parking lot.  Park and follow the trail down to an oxbow and the Soucook River.  Beavers have built a lodge down there, and there was a flock of geese there over the summer.  And lots of blooms.  I walked it a little farther today and actually got to the river.  There on the bank was a fine Smilax specimen.  I used to see (and eat) those all the time in VA and KY, but this is the first time I've seen it here in NH.  My books said it should grow up here, but I was beginning to think this was too far north.


 * I don't think I got your email :-(. But the Sunday after T-day looks good to me too.  Now all we have to do is come up with a destination. --Jomegat 00:18, 15 October 2008 (UTC)


 * Hey... didn't see your message :-). No idea what's going on for T-day weekend now... might have to play it by ear. I'm almost done re-doing the old color-field templates, and have some ideas for the next bot update (for one thing, I'd like to include a 4th template on the bottom for hardiness and other garden attributes so the clock can be used for garden design stuff).
 * I'm also going to do a bit of "polling" about the global season stuff... November really does strike me as being late autumn rather than mid-autumn, and December definitely feels to me like it should be early winter. (And March seems more like early spring than late winter, etc.). I'll pop you a link to the poll, and then we can start doing the comparisons.
 * One other thing I've noticed lately is that there are a bunch of Erigerons blooming around here now that don't look like any of the species we've been logging... I'm wondering in particular about the E. annuum logs. Vinca minor is blooming like crazy now too, btw :-). --SB_Johnny talk 13:25, 6 November 2008 (UTC)
 * Well let me know how the ear playing thing goes. I'm still open the whole T-Day weekend, save for T-Day itself.  Hardly anything at all is in bloom here now.  There are some asters, but I can't tell one from another.  There's also some sort of Helianthus still in bloom that has me mightily confused.  I didn't have a lot of time in October to log stuff, and my daughter broke my camera, so now all I've got for logging is my phone (which I do not like).  Hopefully we can meet up sometime this month.  --Jomegat 02:55, 7 November 2008 (UTC)
 * The Helianthus might be BCP/Helianthus tuberosus, though H. annuus might also be blooming if it was planted very late. I opened a discussion here for the seasonal stuff too if you want to weigh in :-). I'll keep you informed about T-day. --SB_Johnny talk 09:59, 7 November 2008 (UTC)

Templates
Yup, it's for making better keys (and giving us something to do during the flower-less winter :-)). I'll start working on some of the key templates over the weekend.

I'll give you a ring later about next weekend. --SB_Johnny talk 13:26, 20 November 2008 (UTC)

Yep
It's Zelkova serrata :-). --SB_Johnny talk 13:59, 29 November 2008 (UTC)

Jealous now :-)
9MPx, eh? I probably won't upgrade for a while (perhaps when my daughter is ready to inherit mine). Speaking of daughters, did you get my mail? She wants to send a Christmas card to your lil one :-). Send me your snail-mail via email or phone when you get a chance!

I've been resetting the global season templates... will need some help adding the globals once the categories are set up. There was a problem with the jobs cue for a while there, but that seems to have been fixed.

I guess you'll be able to help out with the "image needed" categories too now. It will set up a DPL for photos needed (in cases where the ones we have aren't ideal), generating a "request list" for everything that should in theory be blooming in your area during any particular month. --SB_Johnny talk 09:32, 12 December 2008 (UTC)
 * Hi Johnny,
 * I sent our address via email. When you're ready for me to help with the templates, just say the word.  I'll do what I can.  I have been going through all my photos tagging them with digikam (a photo management program for Linux).  Last night was a good time for that because we had an ice storm here Thursday night into Friday.  It took out our power, and that takes out both my heat and my water.  Luckily, the house holds heat pretty well.  We hauled water from a spring, but about the time we got home with the second batch, the power was on again.  I guess it was out for 12 hours or so.  There are still plenty of people out this way who still don't have powre though.  The Internet stayed off until this afternoon, so that's why I had time to tag my photos.  I'm maybe 20% through them now.  Maybe we'll get another ice storm and I'll be able to finish the job. --Jomegat 20:55, 13 December 2008 (UTC)