If the cold weather and the end of the gardening season is getting you down, try out our new gardening CD program, Plant Elements of Design: A Plant Selection Program and begin planning for next spring's garden.

Plant Elements of Design: A Plant Selection Program is an interactive CD-ROM program developed to support the landscape process by providing designers the opportunity to select plants with specific characteristics. Plants are chosen based on plant type, height, width, texture, seasonal interest, and other characteristics, such as soil and light requirements. The program features: over 550 woody plants and 700 herbaceous plants, all ready available and hardy in USDA Zone 4; fast and easy use, with instant search results; hundreds of plant pictures; searching for plants based on their characteristics (such as form, height, width, texture, color) or by common or scientific names; information on soil and light requirements, disease and insect problems, growth rates and best uses for each plant; and creating plant lists using Excel or printing information about individual plants with pictures. The programs was developed by the University of Minnesota Extension Service is a wonderful resources for gardeners.

The Plant Elements of Design: A Plant Selection Program is available to check out.  If you have any questions about the program, please contact Kim Kiiskinen at the Reference Desk or at 425-0905, ext 104 or kiiski@ifls.lib.wi.us.