Regarding the utility of Quick Response codes and the intersection of garden centers and technology, I asked: “Are YOU, dear readers, taking advantage of this [QRC] technology as it applies to purchasing plants?”
Thirty comments later (not including a repeat and two of my own), as best I can interpret, this is the score:
– Yes I have used them while shopping for plants or own a nursery that uses them – 6 (results varied)
– No (either didn’t have a smart phone or interest in QRCs for plant shopping) – 10
– Couldn’t tell (commenters elaborated on potential/upside/downside/other uses, but couldn’t tell whether commenter had actually utilized them personally while plant shopping) and/or response to other comments – 14
First off, thanks to folks who answered my main question. Big fan of binary response.
And I did ask for “your thoughts.” So thanks to all who weighed in with ideas, related experiences, discussion, and opinions.
Karen’s experience at the Lady Bird Johnson garden was definitely fodder for thought, especially concerning our own campus garden. Commenter Ray E. notes the Franklin Co. (PA) Master Gardeners are implementing the technology at both their demonstration garden and plant sale. Let us know how that goes, Ray (esp. the plant sale). My students are going to give it a try on a few items in their spring plant sale.
Linking to “real information” – science-based, Extension, etc., instead of a corporate/brand URL is an ideal use of QRCs. But are the companies that grow or market garden plants going to go to the effort to do that? Probably not – they are going to link to their corporate info.
Hap and Trey noted the ease with which intuitive keyboard apps/search engines bring up plant names, in lieu of the QRC process. I can’t quite remember how I lived, pre-Google. Oh…right…those things on the bookshelf across from desk. But when a list of options are returned, you have to wade through some stuff to find an info source you trust (here’s a tip – bookmark the Missouri Botanical Garden’s Plant Finder – outstanding). Pris S. is our department’s IT guru (and a gardening nut, incidentally, so she knows of what she speaks regarding security.
Thanks again for all your thoughtful responses. Maybe there should be TR codes…
QRC LOLZ. Let’s just put a big QR code over the flower photo.
Sent to me by astute observer/awesome grower/pal Paul W.
Karen Jeannette of the EMG blog, is also tracking other MG efforts in multiple states on their use. The Master Gardeners of Northern Virginia are much further along in their efforts, and know a lot more about the technology than our group does. We are also partnering with some local garden centers to distribute a flyer, or laminated poster, with a QRC link to this post on Alternatives to Impatiens, given the widespread downy mildew disease that devastated them last year. Our plant sale signage for the 2013 Perennial of the Year will go here, and we will have 25 seedlings of the 2013 Herb of the Year for sale, which folks can learn more about here. Our plant sale is on May 18th, and most purchasing of annuals is done by the end of May, as well, so we should have some metrics on the number of folks who used the code sometime after that.
And here’s Karen Jeanette’s current round-up on QR Codes.
http://blogs.extension.org/mastergardener/2013/03/26/ideas-for-using-qr-codes-for-demonstation-gardens-and-plant-sales/
Flyer for the Alternatives to Impatiens done. PR blog post here:
http://franklincountymgs.blogspot.com/2013/03/hi-tech-extension-outreach-more-on-qr.html