25 Sep Partial Name Search
Partial Name Search
Getting the Most Out of Your Plant Searches
Did you know there is an easier way to find plants using the Partial Name Search in PlantMaster? By actually typing less letters into the search bar, you have a better chance of finding the specific plant you are looking for.
How does that work?
When you are looking for Arctostaphylos den. ‘Howard McMinn’ and you start typing the full name, the database will try to find the exact match to the letters you’ve typed. In many cases there are different spellings of the name or the name will be referenced slightly differently than how you typed it– which means you may not be finding plant records that actually exist in the database. When people email us that a plant is missing from the database more than half the time it already exists in the database and they are looking with letters that don’t match it.
For plants without many cultivars:
For better results, try typing the first three letters of the botanical, common, or synonymous name of the plant, then hit your Return/Enter key. To find “Acer palmatum ‘Sango Kaku’ use “kaku” or “Sang” to find it not ACE or PAL. There are too many other Japanese Maples in the system to find yours quickly.
For plants with many cultivars:
What is unique about the name is the best tool for finding it. For plant with many cultivars, Roses, Camelias, Daylilies for example, you are better off typing 3 or 4 letters of what is unique about the name. For Hemerocallis ‘Pardon Me” search for “PARD”. You will get three plants on screen with those letters in it. Rather than typing in more letters to get a plant type in LESS. It is likely that you are spelling it differently than the name stored in the database.
Don’t bother typing in the whole name. It is the least effective way of using the partial name look up. Less is more.
Happy Searching!