I don't know how you do it. I have a hard enough time just keeping up with planting, watering and weeding.

key word ... RETIRED .... lol .... ken

PS: pappy ... yeah right.. this is the year you will cut back on acquisition ... like we all will .... lol

i forgot to mention ... the older cultivars... e.g. abby, big boy etc .... might be covered in the original schmid tome ... in the big section in the back ....

good luck

ken

WOW! Nice job!

Cut back on your acquistions? hohohohoho
I have found a way around that part. I'm not making that promise till all my mail ordering is done. . .less guilt for the rest of the year that way. . lol

Sidney

Outstanding! So much better than my 4x6 index cards. (snicker)
~Bunnycat

Yea cut back lol I remember when you said you would be finished buying hostas how long ago was that three years lol

you know you have to get that new one and the other you have been thing about for awhile and the one that was hard to get and ............................

So true, Greenbuy and Sydney...I admit...I AM AN HOSTAHOLIC!!
This time however...it's my DW that is putting a stop to my fouly. She thinks I'm going overboard....well...we'll see...

Ken, Thanks for the tip re. Schimdt Book.

'going overboard'??????

that happened long ago .. i think she is throwing you a life jacket.. grab hold.. you DONT need them all .... ken

Ken...you're my man! LOL...

I shall obey DW Therese...as a good hubby should do! HOWEVER, if ever in the future she comes to me saying: "Oh, honey, I just saw the most beautiful hosta..we dont have it...will you buy it???...then I shall stand firm and answer: NO!! If she insists, I shall say again: NO!!...and if she insist a third time, I shall say to my beloved wife: "Well, perhaps..."

Papou

Nice job. I am trying to do this too but can see myself getting behind as the weather warms up. Once again you are the well organized hosta man!! I just love looking at your website but have to watch out for temptation when it comes to seeing plants in person. I am trying to be good but there are just too many beautiful well grown plants to inspire purchasing more and more. It sounds like your wife just may have some hosta blood in her too. Are you sure you will say NO twice before giving in???????

I, too, keep a much smaller record. But one thing that I include is when it starts to come up.

ken i never thought i would hear such words from you

maidofshade, You say it correctly: there are so many new hostas out there....and like Ken says: "You dont have to get them all"...as for me, I only buy the "must have" ones....the rest is history....-:)
I went back to school 3 years ago to improve my knowledge of Microsoft Access....it takes a very long time to enter the data in Accessm but once it is done, it's well worth the effort and time.

I may add here that my digital camera has become an indispensable tool. I take hundreds of pics each year and the good news is that it costs nothing....if I don't like a photo, I simply delete it. Lately, I have made a folder of my best shots during 2006...burned approx. 800 pics on a DVD-CD. Once in a while I put that CD in my DVD Player and watch the slideshow directly on the TV screen. Not only is this satisfying to me, but it also help me memorizing the characteristics of my hostas.

Papou

You're unreal Papou, but I love it. So many great ideas about naming hostas and keeping a journal. Is Microsoft Assess and bundle by itself or does it come with something else? I currently have Microsoft Works and I'm thinking of upgrading to Office.

Lynne

WOW. The database is impressive...and I thought I was doing a good job with my MS Excel spreadsheet which holds a lot of the same information and some parentage/hybridizer info. However I cannot really manipulate the info the way you can Papou. Nice Job!

Lynne, If you upgrade to Office XP, everything is in there...Word...Excel....Access...Publisher...and lots more.
Hostabuff, I encourage you to try Access. I used to limit myself to Word and Excel...thinking that Access was beyond comprehension...you know what?....if you can manipulate Excel, you can work with Access...and you dont need to follow a special course...go to Help and it tells you what to do...
Give it a try! If you do and need help, please email me and I shall be glad to help you.

Papou

papou, your organizational skill are inspiring. You must be a virgo or have strong virgo influence! I have not a drop of virgo unfortunately. I suppose it's made up for somewhere else - ha! I think if you have grass, you have room. I intend to widen the garden around my lawn (and cut down on the lawn) this year. This will be about 6-12 inches surrounding a 10 x10 lawn. As the lawn gets smaller, I will want only to be able to put 2 chairs there and smell the grass when I cut it. McT

As I scrutinized each of my little seedlings...waiting for some characteristic to pop out that I can't see now, I was thinking...the Access database could be very helpful in the hybridizing process...

Access has tons of 'Wizards' that can help you along as you are learning. You can pull something off like Papau's database with only minimal self-training and the use of the help sections.

Lykaon78, Thank you for email invitation. I'm putting your name in my "Resource Persons" file. It's good to know that you use Access in your professional life. I still have to know more about the Queries...and how you do it. Right now, I limit myself to the binocular on the top toolbar.

Papou

papou,

You are, have been, and continue to be, an inspiration here in Hostadom.

Your organizational skills and photography are legendary in my hosta mind. I aspire to be a fraction as knowledgeable and talented as you.

Thank you and please continue. We need you expertise.

:-)Marsha

Marsha, Thanks for your compliments....Hey dont forget to enter your top 10 favorite hostas on my other post. The survey is going real well...and is being done at the same time as a similar survey on Hallsons Gardens (Chris Wilson website).

Papou

Papou,
We like your version of record keeping. We have a similiar one but not as much info and I have some questions on the way we set ours up. I would like to ask some questions and wondered if I could e-mail them to you? We have recently lost some of the XP and were told we needed to replace it. We wondered if perhaps you would tell us what we need to buy as Ron wondered if our Microsoft XP is what we need or replace it with an updated version?
We have 770 varieties of hostas listed on spreadsheet but it will not print on landscape. We tried to save it to a disk and it will not let us do that. That is why the repair people told us to rerun the XP. We are not at home until after next weekend, and our disk is at home.
Your help will be greatly appreciated. Betty

Hi Betty,
First of all, your platform Windows XP SP2 is just fine. Windows Vista just came out but I would not buy it yet as it may have a lot of bugs...wait a bit...at least this is what I'm going to do befor switching to Windows Vista.
More importantly is your Office package. From Office 97, I have upgraded to Office 2000, and last year to the latest Office XP.That seems to work fine with me.
You have a lot of hostas. WOW!! 770 is a lot. It may be that you have reached over the limit that your blank CD can handle. Let's pursue this privately if you dont mind. My email is ghislain@hawk.igs.net
The last CD that I burned took 550megs. If we exchange coordinates, we could possible send each other our CD backups. Hoping to hear from you.

Ghislain Seguin (Papou on Garden Web)