Flower Recognition Software

I have over 10,000 photographs stored on my computer. I would have more, but I decided to be ruthless and delete a few thousand. I'm sure I'll soon regret that action, so the photos are still sitting in the electronic trash can. Dumpster-diving on a computer isn't too messy.

I store the photos month-by-month throughout the calendar year. After the year ends, I decide how to reorganize the photos so that I can easily find a certain flower that bloomed in.... was it May or June?

Last year, I started adding keywords (tags) to my photos so that I could filter my search. For tags, I used the location in the garden as well as color (magenta, orange, red, yellow, etc.). I'd like to tag every flower by variety, but that seems like too much work... from Agastache to Zinnia.

I'm on to a new idea that will take the gardening world by storm!

I use an Apple MacBook with iPhoto. The iPhoto software has "face recognition" capabilities. I tried it out for everyone in our family and it worked beautifully! Searching those 10,000 photos, it recognized each and everyone of us.

The most amazing thing is that this face recognition software can pick a face out of a crowd! Yes! It picked up faces in places that I didn't even know were in the photos! I was relieved that Osama bin Laden nor any other terrorists were found among my thousands of photos.

This iPhoto feature posts all of the "Faces" on a corkboard background. Click on a person. Magic. All of the photos of that person are displayed. Easy, cute, clever and it works great!

Of course, being the technical geek that I am, I decided to try this face recognition software on flower photos.

The coneflower (echinacea) has a very recognizable "face" in my opinion. I pulled up a happy flower face and told iPhoto to "Name" it "Coneflower."

Unfortunately, iPhoto couldn't recognize Coneflower's face among the thousands of photos. Hmm... Is it unrecognizable because the coneflower doesn't have two eyes?

Undaunted, I tried Gaillardia's face, but had no results.

Just think. If we had flower recognition software, we could easily organize our gardening photos. Flower Recognition Software would be able to pick a coneflower out of a garden full of gaillardias.

Excuse me, but I'm off to write an email to Apple's iPhoto development team!



Words and photos by Freda Cameron, Defining Your Home, Garden and Travel. All company or product or patented names mentioned are registered trademarks/copyrights/patents owned by those respective companies or persons.

The Desert Dome Continued

As promised the desert dome in the Mitchell Park Conservatory (The Domes) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin conversation continues. Despite the temperature in the dome being close to the cold outdoor temperatures we spent a fair amount of time in the desert dome. There is just something about arid plants that appeal to me perhaps because they are just so exotic. Graham's SageGraham's Sage (Salvia

How Do You Learn to Garden?

When I first started gardening in my early twenties, I learned from other people.

My friends, family and neighbors showed me their beautiful flower beds and gardens. Bearded irises, daffodils, daylilies and hostas were divided and shared with me. I appreciated the knowledge and inspiration that was passed on to me. I learned to garden from other people. I felt like an expert!

Then, I was introduced to gardens created in other places where I couldn't visit - a whole new realm of ideas, plants and gardening existed.

Print Media Plays a Role in Learning

In 1974, a family member gave me a yearly subscription to Southern Living® Magazine and that was my introduction into reading about flowers, shrubs and trees. And oh, what pretty garden pictures! Every month, I looked forward to opening the mailbox to find my glossy magazine.

Receiving that gift of a magazine subscription turned me into a more inspired gardener. I cut out articles and pictures to save in a folder so that I wouldn't lose the ideas and information.

With my expanded interest, I was soon receiving gardening books as gifts, too. That wasn't enough - I'd go search bookstores for hours looking for books to add to my collection.

I improved my gardening skills with reference books of in-depth chapters, plant lists and growing conditions, design suggestions and how-to sections to include everything from preparing the soil to managing pests to pruning branches.

The Southern Living® Garden Book, first published in 2004, is one of my favorite resources. That thick (and now well-worn) book sits in my garden room within easy reach as I gaze out my windows and plan my next garden project. The book's editor is Steve Bender and many photos were taken by Ralph Anderson.

The Web Plays a Role In Learning

Little did I know that one day, Ralph and Steve (the Grumpy Gardener) would walk through and photograph my gardens! We "met" through reading each other's online gardening blogs.

Through the Web, I have "met" so many other gardeners though blogs, forums and by reading published articles in online magazines and newspapers. Many plants are in my garden today because I learned about them in the online community.

It's not often that we get to walk through each other's gardens. But, with each piece of information shared, each introduction to a new plant or inspiration through photographs, we are sharing "how to garden" with each other.

Readers from all over the world can access what we write by searching for a topic, a word or a photograph. That information is being stored in electronic file folders somewhere, just like the paper clippings that I cut from print media.

We Learn From a Combination of People, Print Media and Electronic Media

My path to learning how to garden has been through a combination of people, print media and electronic media.

Will future gardeners begin the path in reverse - starting with an introduction through electronic media, then by reading print media to expand their knowledge and then by joining in-person gardening communities? I hope so.

The Web shouldn't be an exclusive path to interacting with people or reading magazines and books. Sure, it's easy. But, how much would have been missed by not learning in-person from each other, or not holding printed media in our hands?

Words and photos by Freda Cameron, Defining Your Home, Garden and Travel. All company or product or patented names mentioned are registered trademarks/copyrights/patents owned by those respective companies or persons.

Shop Safety: The Top 3 things I consider key

Safety is the name of the game when it comes to working with power tools and wood.  I can’t stress enough how important this part of woodworking is.  Things can go wrong way to fast.  In just the few years that I have been active in the woodworking hobby I have already know several people to have had accidents.  It seems the most common injury so far is has been a finger hitting a table saw blade.  This can lead to a very severe injury.  I will just leave it at that.  When you talk about shop safety you can go in many directions.  I am not going to talk about tool safety at this time.  I am going to focus on a few things that don’t always seem to get a lot of press. 

1) Eye protection

I don’t care what tool you are using ALWAYS wear some form of eye protection.  I use eye protection even when I am sanding.  You never know when something could come flying off and with power tools they are accelerated that much faster.  We want to keep your eyes in place. 

2) Hearing Protection

I will be the first to admit that I don’t always use hearing protection.  Some tools are louder than others.  Typically when using a router, planer and even a table saw I will wear ear protection.    Those tools in particular can be very very loud. 

3) A clean/organized shop is a safe shop

It is extremely easy to just leave a shop in shambles and I am as guilty as the next guy of leaving it a mess between projects.  However I find that when I take the time between projects to sweep up all the sawdust, it makes all the difference in the world.  Spend a little time putting up all your tools that you used for the current project all the way down to the screws and sandpaper.  Keep the floor around your tools free of obstructions.  It is very easy to trip over the smallest thing or even slip on a rogue screw.  Taking a little time to clean and organize the shop can make all the difference on how a project goes. 

Well these are the three big things that I try to take into consideration when I am planning a project.  Practicing these three rules will go a very long way in keep you safe and focused. 

Let me know what you think.  What safety items do you take into consideration when beginning a project? 

 

Stay tuned later this week I will be showing the use of a Kreg Pocket Hole Jig and what I am calling a stain story board.

 

Have a great day!

 

--GROVER

Technorati Tags: Safety,Shop,tools,hearing protections,eye protection,organization

More Pictures from the Desert Dome

Yesterday I posted on a bit on the desert dome at the Mitchell Park Conservatory (The Domes) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I took a fair number of pictures so will be sharing some of those with you over the next couple of days. Cacti can be grown successfully indoors in northern climates in a sunny window. It is amazing to see the variety of cacti available, some more suitable to growing indoors

Moving On To the Desert Dome

Living in Ontario, Canada I don't have a lot of experience with cacti other than the few I grow on my windowsill. My little cacti seedlings are coming along nicely and while they are about double in size they sure take a long time to grow! I can fully appreciate how long it takes for a cactus to get to any appreciable size. Mine are now 3 years old and aren't even big enough to transplant.

Container Garden Recipes

It doesn't take a gardener to appreciate the beauty of containers. The perfect spot of color doesn't go unnoticed.

Shopping malls and streets often boast containers year-round. Many are planted with evergreens that get added punches of color from annuals and perennials with the changing seasons. You can find container garden inspiration everywhere.

Creating your own beautiful container garden is easy and you don't have to be a gardener to follow the instructions and have success.

There is no shortage of container garden "recipes" from magazines, growers and retailers. Many of these recipes are easy to find online. If you don't want to plant a container yourself, then you can purchase pre-planted container gardens at many nurseries. There are also many gardeners, garden centers and florists who specialize in creating custom containers.

Resources for recipes and container gardening tips:

Better Homes and Gardens
Fine Gardening
P. Allen Smith Garden Home
Proven Winners
Southern Living
Terra Nova Nurseries, Inc.

If you want the plants from published container garden recipes, you'd best shop early!

With everyone reading the same resources, the featured plants are the first to sell out. I bought most of my container annuals in March last year! In fact, the greenhouse owner told me that he'd be sold out of thousands of plants by the first week in April. Be prepared to have substitutions in mind, and remember that every container doesn't have to be elaborate. I keep my early purchases in a sheltered holding area until the freezes end in mid-April.

That said, you don't have to plant all of your containers in the spring. In late summer, when the garden is fading, the nurseries will be stocking fall-blooming plants so you can freshen up your porches and patios.

For all-season containers, try a small shrub, tree or rose that is interesting throughout the year. I have arborvitae in huge pots by my swimming pool; a potted miniature rose by my waterfall; and, a container herb garden in my front cottage garden. I let the annual grasses in my containers remain through the winter - though they lose their color and fade to tan, the structure provides interest in ice and snow.

A beautiful container can be the focal point instead of the flowers, too. I use a simple combination of purple petunias and basil on my outdoor dining table because I love the clay pot.

The basil and petunias are pinched back to keep the arrangement tidy and low so that we can have conversations across the table. The basil smells great and is edible, too. Basil, and other herbs make great companions to flowers.

Enjoy the fun and reward of creating your own container garden recipe!

My best tip for creating a container garden recipe of your own is to go to a nursery with a color scheme in mind. Pick your tall plant first to be your focal point - based on color, sun/shade and your container. Then, walk around with that plant until you see mounding plants, with the same growing conditions, that complement your focal point plant. Select one or two mounding plants, then try to find a plant that will spill over the edges. Sometimes, I just tilt a mounding plant in the pot so that it spills over the edge.

Be warned, container gardening is addictive - once you start, you'll have containers everywhere!

Click on the images for these container recipes

I'd love to see the container garden photos and recipes from other bloggers - so, please link in the comments.

Words and photos by Freda Cameron, Defining Your Home, Garden and Travel. All company or product or patented names mentioned are registered trademarks/copyrights/patents owned by those respective companies or persons.