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Re: medit-plants list description

Andrew,

>"There is much to be gained in the experiences
>of fellow gardeners in all climates, but often you yearn to 'talk'
>with someone who directly understands your unique horticultural
>challenges and successes.  This discussion group was established to
>fill that need for gardeners in the Mediterranean climate zones
>throughout the world, regardless of their specific interests."
>
>If there is an emphasis at this site it is toward plants that are adaptable
>to climates where frost does not play a big role. So, 'temp-plants' or
>'subtrop-plants' might be more descriptive. The name does not really
>matter; medit-plants is fine as long as you are not expecting to see
>discussions limited to mediterranean plant types.

Hmm...that's not how I read the description. I see the group as primarily a
way for gardeners who live in mediterranean climate areas and gardeners in
other places who are interested in plants from mediterranean climate areas
to talk about their gardens. Myself, I fall in the first category (I live
in the San Francisco Bay Area). Nick Turland, formerly of London and now in
the decidedly non-mediterranean region of St. Louis, falls in the second,
as he's an expert on the botony of Crete and other Mediterranean islands.
However, both Nick and myself grow other plants besides those originally
found in mediterranean climates (and as Barry mentioned, deciding what
exactly constitutes a Medit plant would be a difficult process in itself).
I see no problem with hearing about those plants, and indeed love the
colo(u)rful descriptions by group members of their entire gardens. I only
wish my garden was half as interesting! :)

>I have nothing against a wider range of topics except that (1) it takes
>more time to extract what I want to read and (2) it is in direct opposition
>to what the purpose of the site was set up for. So, if you want a wider
>range you need to change the charter. Newcomers may not hang around for
>long.

Well, I guess that's their loss, as I think this is a marvelous group as it
is. Perhaps for those who, like you, don't have time or inclination to
enjoy the digressions, we can all try to edit our subject lines to better
describe the contents. That way, if an item appears to be too off-subject
for you, you can skip it.

I think if this list had a greater number of posts per day, staying
on-topic would be a larger issue. I'm on another list whose daily digests
can run 50-100 messages apiece, so staying on-topic is extremely important
(and off-topic discussions are quickly squelched). But that's a moderated
group (and moderating the list is a big job for the two list managers). I
like the Medit-Plants group unmoderated, and I wonder if anyone would
volunteer for the job of moderating it, were the majority in favor of such
a move.

If you'd like to start a list of the type you're describing, please do so!
I'd probably even join, though I think I'd be a bit too intimidated to post
to it, as I'm not that knowledgable about which plants I'm familiar with
are considered mediterranean.

Sincerely,
Cheryl Renshaw
(Santa Clara Valley/Silicon Valley, California)

--------------------------
Wayne & Cheryl Renshaw
renshaw@best.com

http:www.best.com/~renshaw
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