Special Offer
For October 2025
 

Ideas Genie
A quick overview
 

• Software to allow you to keep track of the plants in your garden - and much more
• Supplied with
  a) an empty fileset (thats YOUR database) and
  b) a Master Database of more than 36,000 plants and over 2000 photos
• YOUR database is installed on your computer
• The Master Database of 36,000 plants is also installed in the background
  This provides predictive text as you add plants
• Add plants to what is now YOUR plants database
  Method a) type or copy and paste
  Method b) Browse and copy selected plants from the Master Database
  Method c) The easy method. Enter ALL parts of a plant name in one line.
  You can also copy and paste a full plant name e.g. from the internet
• Keep a record of the plants in each of your garden areas (and pots)
• Link your digital photos to your plants and garden areas
• Link plants to photos on the internet
• Plant information may be keyed in, copied and pasted in from internet articles or linked to Word documents.
• Research the plants you are considering purchasing, propagating or growing from seed
• Organise documents, cross-references to magazines, books and internet articles
• Live links takes you back to the exact PAGE in the site used as a data source.
  This may sound technical, but is VERY easy and extremely powerful.
• You can define each plant in its full botanical structure, Genus, Species, Sub Species and Cultivar.
• Properties and cultivation requirements can be entered, Colour, Height, Spread, Shade Tolerance, Aspect, Soil etc.
• Totally configurable - add you own Properties and cultivation - e.g. Hardiness zones for US
• Print Plant Labels with Photos (professional quality using Rich Text)
• Print photos - with your own text - optionally choose plants
• Manage multiple gardens and multiple databases
• Get your garden online using the Ideas Genie Pro Web page Generator.
• Create a downloadable Plants or Seed Catalog (Nurseries and Seed Suppliers)
• Use downloadable Catalogs to pick and purchase your seed and plants
• Optionally, carry your database on external devices - Flash disc/Memory sticks.
  Plug in and Use on any computer (must have Ideas Genie installed).
• Other databases (data and photos) are available for use with other Ideas Genie Pro.users.
• You may share with someone who specialises in your field.
  Open the database you wish to use, yours or your friends. Simple!

• The fun bit.
  Six unlimited fields for you to fill with all that sturf (surf stuff) you find on the net. Genus Data, Species Data, Propagation Notes, Cultivation Notes, Pest and Diseases Notes and, since there is a record for every plant, Cultivar Notes. The same Genus Notes, Propagation Notes, Cultivation and P&D notes are inherited by every plant you raise in the same genus, the same species data is inherited if you raise a new plant in a similar Species, so disk space is conserved.
  Go top
   
• The wonderful bit.
  You don’t need to key it up (although you can if you want!).
  
  You copy data from a web page in your browser and paste it into your record for that plant (you can simultaneously create records for any new plants you find as you browse). Paste it into one of the unlimited fields described above. You find some more data. Merge it in as well
   
• The Personal Bit
  You can use your own digital photos.
  You’ve spent the money on that digital camera, now make it work!
  You can give each photo a Title and a Description, and link to as many photos as you like, per plant! You’ll want close ups, from a distance to show form and habit etc, and of course, pictures of the plant in association with others in all kinds of settings. The software even allows you to nudge the list of photographs for each plant into your preferred arrangement.
  Go top
   
• The amazing bit.
  You can link to photos on the internet as well!
  Library books are great, but you get one or two pictures per plant. No limitation with this software.
  Since you are not downloading the images, you are not infringing copyright laws.
  The Google button (a feature in the software) is useful here. Click on a plant name in your database, click the Google button and Ideas Genie interacts with the Google web site, and does a Google search. You dont have to type the plant name!
  You can copy and paste data and URL’s from the web sites you visit on Google.
  You can set your preferences for the Google search for your locality
  Go top
   
• The Gimmicky bits
  There’s so many flip albums around that we just had to throw this in as well. Pick a garden (or all) , enter a value for a delay, grab a cup of coffee, click a button, and sit back. Your whole photo collection passes by, at the delay rate. If you have a herbacious area, its great for watching how your garden changes over the seasons, and to remind you of some plants which looked great last year but perished over the winter. Each photo is full screen, with title and description at the bottom. You can pause,  continue, stop, reverse, forward etc. You’ll love it!! Actually, you’ll be very proud of yourself, and it makes all the weeding worth while.
  This program can also be used by Garden Club speakers.
  Go top

Its easy to get YOUR garden on line using Ideas Genie Pro