User:BlissfulGarden

Hi, I thought I had a lot to contribute here at Wikipedia, but apparently I was incorrect. I have over 30 years of gardening experience and education and have maintained an educational site about growing bearded irises in the deep south for several years (http://eveysblissfulgarden.com/). My newest project is introducing clematis to southern gardens... as there is a misconception among many that clematis cannot thrive here. To the contrary, many clematis cultivars can perform quite well from USDA Zone 4 all the way down to Zone 11. Some cultivars, especially those that were hybridized in Estonia, can even thrive in Zone 3.

Listings on most free-access clematis databases do not go beyond USDA Zone 9, yet we have plenty of anecdotal evidence that many cultivars can grow and bloom quite well in all regions of the United States. Many clematis enthusiasts, including me, felt we needed a reference that shows how various clematis cultivars truly perform in all of the USDA climates. We are currently building this reference -- a database -- and were hoping to find others to help us in our efforts. If you would like to assist us, here is a link: http://cubits.org/Clematis/db/clematiscultivars/.

Another goal of the database is to show which cultivars are actually available in North America. It is very frustrating to peruse an international database of cultivars, locate the perfect clematis for your chosen spot, and then discover it is not available anywhere on your continent! As most hybrid cultivars do not breed true-to-parent from seeds and it is still exceedingly difficult (logistically and legally) to import bare root clematis stock, it could be many years, or possibly never, that your selected clematis makes it "over the pond."

I attempted to link this database to Wikipedia, as well as provide links to articles on subjects related to growing and enjoying clematis. The database has over 125 contributors to date and now displays 291 cultivars. Our goal is to eventually list all cultivars currently available in North America, including both natives and hybrids. But, because my name is listed as the administrator of the database, the link was considered "self-promoting" and was removed. Apparently, donating your time to maintain a database and then posting a link to that database is considered a selfish act.

Navigating here at Wikipedia certainly is an unfriendly and frustrating experience, and it makes me feel that contributing my 100's of photos of roses, clematis and other plants (many of which have already been contributed to the database over at Dave's Garden with this same user name) would be a wasted effort. I can think of many, many topics where those that are actively engaged with the subject matter and have much to share would shy away from contributing... Wiki editors seem to be a lot more about sending links to what NOT to do rather than helping new members successfully navigate how to submit something of value correctly. If you want the site to grow from a bunch of stubs to more content, it might be a good idea to look at how newbies are nudged (or sledgehammered) in one direction or another.