Trying to ID a plant from a blurry Facebook photo with no location is driving me crazy

I see it all the time in gardening groups. Someone posts a picture that looks like it was taken through a foggy window at midnight and asks "what's this plant?" No leaf detail, no flower, no info on where they are or if it's in sun or shade. And then 50 people guess something different... I got burned on a mis-ID once and ended up planting a mint relative next to my roses. Total disaster. Why do people think we're psychic?

3 comments

3 Comments

casey39319d agoMost Upvoted

Got a friend who once ID'd a plant as catnip for a neighbor based on a blurry photo. Turned out it was something completely different and the neighbor's cat went nuts, scratching up her whole garden trying to get to it. She ended up ripping out half her flower bed because the plant spread like crazy and the cat kept coming back. Now she just tells people to use a plant app or wait for better pictures before guessing. Makes you wonder how many wrong IDs are floating around out there, right?

drew90614d ago

Depends how much you really care about your rose bed, I guess.

adam_hernandez19d ago

Man, it's like the same thing with people asking for directions using a picture of a blurry street sign with no cross streets. We've all gotten so used to having instant answers that we skip over the basic details that would actually help someone help us. It's a good reminder that a little bit of effort upfront can save everyone a whole lot of headache later on.