To: All From: Jean E. Olson, Extension Landscape Architect, Iowa State University Subject: a new computerized plant selection program Over the past few years I have used and tested several computerized plant selection programs for APPLE and IBM-type computers. Here at ISU Extension, we have purchased a "site license" for CAPS, an acronym for "Computer Augmented Plant Sorts," (written by Susan Schmieman, a landscape architect and owner of the firm of TERISAN, in Silver Spring, Maryland), for use within the ISU Extension service, and I am currently altering the plant database supplied with the program to include landscape plants more perfectly suited to our peculiar climate and soils. Recently, I helped Beta Test still another plant sorting system, the "Landscape Plant Manager," written by Robert W. Boufford, Ferris State College, Big Rapids, MI 49307. I am including material from Professor Boufford's press release, along with my own comments, in this message. I found it a very well designed and written program, and feel it is certainly worth investigating. Marketed as "Shareware", the program comes with full documentation on disk, along with a "demonstration" datafile of about 50 assorted trees, shrubs, and perennial flowers. NCCI Bulletin Board users can obtain a copy of the program by sending a formatted 5-1/4 inch double sided, double density IBM computer diskette - along with a stamped, self-addressed diskette mailer - to: Robert W. Boufford Ornamental Horticulture Technology Department of Biological Sciences Ferris State College Big Rapids, MI 49307 Professor Boufford will copy the program and its documentation onto your disk at no charge and mail it back to you in your pre-stamped, self-addressed mailer. The program is not copy-protected. A text file containing complete documentation is supplied on the disk. If, after evaluating the program, you wish to actually make use of it, you are asked to send a nominal donation ($50.00 is normal) to the Ornamental Horticulture Technology program development fund at Ferris State College If not, just erase the disk and use it for something else. Frankly the program - at only $50.00 for a Registered User's License - must be considered a "Best Buy," especially if you contemplate entering your own plant database, or are uncertain whether you really wish to use such a program. There are at least two competing commercially available plant selection programs available that offer similar performance. Yet more plant selection programs have been written, and some of them are available for sale from such vendors as Landscape Electronics (An Illinois company that also offers several spreadsheet templates) and MFE Associates, a Massachusetts company that offers several specialized computer programs for landscape architects. The first of the two programs is CAPS (previously mentioned), which retails for approximately $400.00, but comes with either of two highly sophisticated databases, one for Western United States, and the other for North Central and Northeastern United States plants. CAPS has versions for Apple-II and Apple-/// computers, and a third version for all MS-DOS (IBM-PC, etc.) computers. All versions of CAPS can be extensively "customized" with information on locally hardy plants. None are copy-protected. The "Plant Selector" program, written by Scott Weinberg et al, of the Department of Landscape Architecture, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, sells for from $100.00 to $150.00, depending upon which version you obtain. The "Plant Selector" program can be obtained in three versions. One version has information on Interior Plants (Priced at $125.00), one has information on Southeastern Landscape Plants (Priced at $150.00), and the third version (priced at $100.00) allows you to enter your own plant information. None of the versions are copy-protected. Contact Professor Scott Weinberg for more information. I quote from Professor Boufford's press release: "The Landscape Plant Manager is a plant selection oriented computer program developed for use by students in ornamental horticulture curriculums and members of the landscape industry. Through various menus within the program, one can store and retrieve information on plants used in the landscape. The main feature of the Landscape Plant Manager is the ability to find plants in a data file based on from 1 to 24 different criteria including such characteristics as form, height, spread and hardiness zone. Depending on computer memory and disk storage capacity, a Landscape Plant Manager data file can hold from 500 to 5,000 different landscape plants. The software currently requires an IBM PC or true compatible computer with a minimum of 128 kilobytes of memory and one 360 kilobyte floppy disk drive. A memory capacity of 256 kilobytes or larger is preferred." For NCCI BBS users' further information, the program was written in Turbo Pascal. It works satisfactorily on a monochrome monitor, but works and appears best on a computer equipped with a color graphics card. The color menus are very well designed, and the program is extremely easy and "intuitive" to use. The definition of "True Compatible" means any MS-DOS computer that will satisfactorily run the Microsoft Flight Simulator Program. From experience while beta-testing the program, we can tell you that it would not run on a Zenith Z-150, but worked fine on IBM-PCs, IBM-XTs, and an IBM-AT, as well as on a Compaq, a Panasonic, and a couple others whose names slip our memory. The program uses function keys - displayed on a menu line displayed across the top of the screen, as in the Apple Macintosh - to implement "drop down menus" that - also as in the Macintosh - "gray" any commands that are not available at the moment. It is extremely well error trapped, and we were unable to "crash" the program or even get into any difficulties when beta-testing it. If you are seriously interested in a plant selection program, or are just simply curious, we suggest you send Professor Boufford a diskette and a self-addressed, stamped mailer and try his program. There is practically no risk, since you don't have to pay anything to thoroughly test it out, and the License fee for those who choose to actually use his program is quite nominal. In addition, it shows a very effective user interface that is worth examining. Jean E. Olson, ASLA Extension Landscape Architect, Iowa State University, Ames, Ia 50011 Office telephone no. (515) 294-3007. My home number is (515) 383-4684 If there is any demand for it, I will place detailed reviews of other plant selection programs here on the NCCI BBS.