SOFTWARE REVIEWS
Garden Catalog Profiles by Wendy Fries
Seeds are such tiny things usually...mere specks of immense promise. Gardening revolves around these wee wonders, so how is it we can have such giant stacks of catalogs when the things they're cataloging are so small?
Sow random catalog requests no more! Pluck Norell Software's "Garden Catalog Profiles" from the nearest software plot and with this "mail-order nursery guide for the personal computer" you can now locate and order only the catalogs you really want.
What It Is
Garden Catalog Profiles is a nursery database. You select the gardening items you're interested in - from drought-resistant plants to hardneck garlic - and then run a search to find which nursery's catalogs specialize in those items.
How it works
Let's say we want to grow juicy vegetables and edible flowers. We'd also like to buy gardening books, and do it all from a nursery specializing in Canadian planting zones. While it'd be difficult to vet a dozen catalogs for these particulars it's easy with Profiles.
Using the six drop down menus, choose the specialties you're looking for, as we've done below:
Clicking "Find it" gives us our results. For this example, only one nursery fit all the criteria, but that's perfect, no clutter, just one catalog with everything we want.
Searches are enhanced by the hundreds of specialties from which to choose (I stopped counting at 600) with eclectic choices ranging from herb wreath kits, pond products, and weddings, to my favorite: vampires (from a nursery specializing in garlic). There's also other search options, such as by city or nursery name.
Our Example
Using the above criteria the nursery returned was Redwood City Seed Company. Here's where Profiles gets meaty. Not only do the results provided nursery address, phone number and URLs, but also catalog descriptions (cost, number of pages, updates schedule, whether growing tips are included), and the nursery's specialties (Redwood has 200, from gourds, insect-attracting plants and grains, to grasses and heirloom plants).
We also learn how long the nursery has been in business, whether they belong to any societies (Redwood belongs to the Society for Ecological Restoration, for example), and if they accept personal check, credit card, or money orders.
If you're pleased with your results list you can save it for the next time you fire up the program, saving you from having to re-entering your search parameters next time.
A Few Weeds
Software touting itself capable of running on "Windows 3.x" is not likely to operate smoothly on all platforms and Profiles had glitches under Windows NT. The specialty drop-down menus had a frustrating tendency to zip by far too fast to read, and most buttons needed to be clicked two or three times before responding.
And though the online help file is well-written I found no graphics. It's a shame too, because adding screen captures to online help costs nothing and yet a good image can clarify much.
Summing Up
At $35US, this program isn't dirt cheap, but if you love ordering from catalogs and like hunting for unusual items, you may find Garden Catalog Profiles helps you dig effectively through the plethora of catalog choices out there.
Garden Catalog Profiles, $35US (on sale Spring 2001 for $12.95), Windows or DOS (a Macintosh version is pending). Norell Software
(Let Wendy know what software you'd like to see reviewed at: [submit@yougrowgirl.com].)
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