Launching the latest 3,500 plant version at Chelsea 2007

[Neil Bromhall]

We will be launching our latest 3,500 plant version with over 9,000 images at Chelsea Flower Show 2007
Please come and see us Stand EA 30 to see the new version or just to say hello.
If you mention that you're a Complete Garden Forum member we will give you and your friends £5.00 off the rrp.

We look forward to seeing you.
Best wishes
neil

[digger]

Wow I have just been using the new complete gardens cd rom, what a fantastic tool! it really is the business and so straight forward to use well done neil this is truly a first class product, I have already begun compiling my plant lists and i am busy compiling plants i want list also. This is so well thought out, after compiling the plants list i can see quite easily the pruning guide and plant care guide for each plant i have and the monthly calender is an excellent idea. this is a really well thought out piece of kit Neil i shall certainly let people know about it well done my friend.

[sue1002]

If digger can use it ok then it must be easy:D , I haven't tried mine yet as this week is half-term and OH has the week off work so I will probably make a start on mine next week.

[Neil Bromhall]

Hi Digger,
It was great to meet you at Chelsea and thank you for your kind comments about the CD-ROM. It has been a real team effort producing it and very rewarding when people find it useful.
I've tried to make it easy to use and have a practical use for garden enthusiasts of all levels of experience. I hope to be able to keep photographing and adding plants for years to come. I'd love to produce a CD-ROM on vegetables one day.
Thanks again
Best wishes
Neil

[floribunda]

I've bought the new CD too having been convinced after using the one-day trial. C'est tres fantastique! I have already got a couple of mates who want it added to their brithday lists - and they've been gardening for years.

What a great idea and so beautifully done. I'm amazed more gardeners (especially newbies like me) don't have this as standard recommended reading.

Well done you!
Bunda x

http://download.complete-gardens.co.uk/showscreen.php?site_id=14&screentype=site&screenid=14

[Neil Bromhall]

I'm very please to hear that you trialled the streaming option so you could decide if the plant content was useful.
I love gardening books yet thought that a CD-ROM could allow the user to add & print their own notes as well as let the computer do all the laborious searching.
I don't like labels on my plants so I add the plant names and where they are planted in the 'Notes' page attached to each plant. This means I know which clematis or rose needs pruning when the CD reminds me it's the right month to prune the various clematis and roses etc I have in my garden.

Thank you Bunda for your kind comments.

http://download.complete-gardens.co.uk/showscreen.php?site_id=14&screentype=site&screenid=14

[sue1002]

I've finally got round to having a look through the CD Neil and I am impressed with it, there is so much information, it must have taken you an absolute age to put this together, well done:)

The monthly calandar is brilliant, I can transfer my own notes over and have most of my info to hand in one place.

Now I've just got to make a list off all my plants to add into the lists, it's a good job that I didn't look at it last week or no-one around here would have got fed:D

I can see this being a 'must have' item, thank you;)

[Neil Bromhall]

Thank you Sue for your kind comments. Yup a number of years work has gone in to making the CD-ROMs. I can only take credit for the Production of the CD and most of the images. The Authoring was done by Paul Williams and some students working at the Oxford Botanic gardens plus a few others. Then I had to pay for a good programmer to make it all work smoothly and on both PC & MAC's.
It is very rewarding to hear when people like it.
I want to make specialist versions on subjects like fruit & vegetables, orchids plants to attract butterflies and bees etc.
I would have fun taking some of the photographs.
Best wishes
Neil

P.S I would like to add pests and diseases to the www.complete-gardens.co.uk web site to help people identify them. If anyone has decent photos with the correct name of the pest or disease then please send them in.

[Miranda]

It's that it's made with Flash that partly impresses me. Working with it myself, I can see what a vast project it is. You really need your wits about you to make something like that work.

I've got a few pest photos you can use, Neil. I'll send them on.

[Neil Bromhall]

Hi Sue,
Good idea.
So far we have:-

Rust on Broad bean by sue

Acer tar spot/sycamore leaf spot - Rhytisma acerinum by Miranda

Scarlet lily beetle
Rust on Hollyhock
snails eggs - snails
Sawfly
black spot on roses

[digger]

I have got a colorado beetle that you can use Neil it's quite dead i've had it for a good 20years in a small test tube surrounded by cotton wool it was given to me as a gift and so far i have been unable to find a satisfactory use for it,but i thought if i throw it away someone will want to have it just days after i get rid of it.

[Crackers]

Hi Neil

I have noticed that you mention the Streaming version on the forum but no links to it?

I understand that the streaming version works over the internet and from the users experience point of view appears to be loaded on their computer.
It also appears to be very fast and the great thing is it means the user always has the latest version.

I hope you do not mind but I thought it would be a good idea to lob a link in here. (http://download.complete-gardens.co.uk/showscreen.php?site_id=14&screentype=folder&screenid=243)

Maybe you should have a separate section in your forum to highlight this great product.

Can you imagine living in somewhere like North America and having access to your product just by clicking on an icon on their desktop.

How cool is that?

Great work:-0)

I have done quite a bit of research into this sort of application delivery and it appears that Microsoft and Google will be using this method to stream applications.

Talk about being a pioneer:)

"Application streaming is the alternative to local desktop application installations.

As an alternative to fully installing a Windows application on a PC, it is streamed from a central server where only the parts of the application required by the user are installed for immediate use. When the user has finished with the application and chooses to do so, all components are fully removed – as if the application was never there.

The advantage of streaming is it allows the customer quick and easy access to the Complete Gardens encyclopaedia database and its search functions whenever & wherever in the world via an internet connection. The streamed software is a clone of the award winning CD-ROM yet streaming offers additional advantages of not having to use a CD-ROM, the application runs faster than a CD-ROM and conventional server, is cheaper, plus upgrades are instantly available as we add more plants.

Your notes and plant lists will remain available whenever you choose to continue licensing the Complete Garden encyclopaedia software."

And for £15.00 I can see the benefits to the end user being past on.

Here's the link and for all of those that are eager to try this out there is a 24 hour trial I can see for just one Pound (about 2 dollars I believe) and unlike other trial ware you get access to the full version.



Streaming link (http://download.complete-gardens.co.uk/showscreen.php?site_id=14&screentype=folder&screenid=243)