Does a list exist of plants growing in the UBC Botanical Gardens, and is it accessible? I am particularly interested in which Australian plants survive the winter at UBC.
Excellent question - the short answer is that a list of plants does exist, but it is not accessible to the public (yet). The long answer: UBC BGCPR is in the process of raising funds to purchase a new database for the management of its collections. This database will be (partially) accessible via the WWW, giving the public, researchers, gardeners, and anyone else interested access to some of the UBC BGCPR collections data. There will also be public access to some of UBC BGCPR's digital resources (e.g., digital images or scans of slides). This will be a huge leap from what is done presently; the current database resides on one PC and is accessible by only one person (myself). Furthermore, the report-generating capabilities of the present software is not adequate for a query as complicated as: "give me all the alive plants in the Australasian section of the Alpine Garden that have survived for longer than 2 years, 5 years, and 15 years." (I think 15 years or so ago was the last time a killer frost wiped out many Australasian borderline hardy plants.)
Hi Daniel - I've just been browsing the site, trying to familiarize myself a little better, and came across this post from 2002. Can you give an update to the database? The site and the forums are a wonderful resource, and I feel lucky to be so close to the UBC Botanical Garden, not to mention the gardening conditions in the lower mainland. I also have a specific question. I have a little rhododendron macrophyllum, but it isn't doing much more than staying alive. It's only about 8" tall, and I've had it for about three years. It was first planted in full sun for a year, and since has been put in the back of a border in semi-shade. I've tried to leave it alone, figuring it's a native, it'll do okay. In the spring it puts out new leaves, but then they seem to droop, and no flower buds. The soil in my yard is pretty good, and I routinely add compost. Should I be paying more attention to it? - giving it extra fertilizer and lots of water? Am I expecting too much too early? I should maybe have posted two separate entries, one to the rhodo forum, so if you want to cut and paste for me, that's great. I'm going to read the forum guidelines now (kind of like reading computer textbooks - only when all else fails). Thanks again for administering such a great site. Chris
Hi Chris, So, in the span of 2.5 years, we've only made it as far as having a "quick and dirty" database up and running online, here: http://www.botanicalgarden.ubc.ca/collections/data/ There's still plenty more work to be done on this, however. I'm going to copy this thread over to the Rhodo forum, too, then make yours a separate post, so that someone who might be able to answer it can address it.
Hi Daniel, I just came across this thread today and took a look at the database. There are some plants in the garden that I never knew were there - I'm wondering in particular about Quercus ilex and Arbutus canariensis. I don't remember seeing either of these anywhere in the gardens; is the database outdated, or is there some way to tell from the listing exactly where I can find the specimens? Thanks
The database is outdated - I'm still woefully behind on catching up with some of these things. The Quercus ilex is still alive, and located near the old entrance to the garden. The Arbutus was removed as deleted - year dead unknown in 2006 (likely via one of our inventories). The next version of the database online will include bed locations, I believe.
