New Ornamentals Society (NOS)
Devoted to the study of improved, superior landscape plants

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What is the New Ornamentals Society?

The NOS is a group of professional horticulturalists, taxonomists, students, and landscape designers interested in the best and the newest ornamental landscape plants. Our NEW ORNAMENTALS DATABASE (NOD) is a huge reference system that documents the descriptions, history, origins, and even nursery sources of new and rare plants. Thousands of plant profiles are on file. Due to our active research program and member-supplied data much of the plant data in the system is not available elsewhere, including so-called complete reference books and CD-ROM.

Beginning in 1998 our databases went onto the Internet. Plant names and onlines sources are offered free to the public via the New Plant Page. Society members are given access to a much larger set of online databases that add thousands of plant descriptions, origins, landscape uses, nomenclature facts, literature citations, mailorder sources, and much more. Called NEW ORNAMENTALS ONLINE, the member's database is one of the largest net-based plant encyclopedias existing today.

MISSION STATEMENT

The New Ornamentals Society will collect, evaluate, and distribute information on origins, history, characteristics, nomenclature, and identification of ornamental landscape plants that are rare or of relatively recent origin. Information will be communicated using computer technology to a worldwide readership of amateurs and professionals on a frequent basis, providing the largest quantity of accurate and original data at the least possible cost.

The NEW ORNAMENTALS DATABASE II (NOD II) is now renamed NEW ORNAMENTALS DATABASE - INTERNET or NODI to reflect a primarily HTML format and web-delivered content. The same field names and data used in NOD II are continued. The database is our primary publication for members and is available on the Internet with weekly updates.

The NOD covers over 155 fields or data categories on all aspects of new and rare plants. These include:

1. Retail and wholesale nursery sources with clickable web links or 800 numbers. We have spent hundreds of hours researching nursery websites and catalogs to provide the finest listings. Our sources are also international in scope unlike the majority of popular "plant finders".

2. Hundreds of links to specialty interest, plant society, and collector sites about specific rare plants - many of them unindexed and not reported elsewhere.

3. Precise taxonomic quality descriptions when available. Precise measurements and color chart values are provided when available.

4. Formal literature citations and bibliographies to genera. Researchers often find little known papers and theses on our files.

5. History and origins of plants and their names. We cover all the who, what, when, where, how, and why facts that can be found.

6. Nomenclature and identification topics including comparisons to similar cultivars and reasons for recent name changes.

7. Trademark and patent data. Trademark vs. cultivar names are carefully indexed.

8. Selected recommendations for landscape use such as to which cultivar it can replace and how it may be improved over it.

9. Exclusive facts and original data not available elsewhere.

Here's what a few members have told us:

"I'd always considered myself well informed....I did not realize how many great new plants I knew nothing about"
"Bravo!...this is the what the internet was meant for"
"My clients expect and demand the very best...you've helped us find the best plants time and time again."
"The NOD is always my first stop when researching a group of plants"
"This is a major step forward in the timely delivery of plant information...thank you."
"Plant databases have never impressed me - until now!"
"The database was a real revelation...we need this!"
"Having a nursery link under each plant is a brilliant idea...it's saves me lots of time"
"Beautiful graphics"
"Thank you for this important contribution to horticulture"

VIEW OUR DATABASE FIELD LIST:
Show Field Glossary

TECHNOLOGY REQUIREMENTS: To access the NEW ORNAMENTALS DATABASES - INTERNET (NODI) you need Internet access with a major browser. You will be given a password and/or secured access URL that must be used to locate our member's database menu. The service is NOT tied to your computer or network (ie. cookies, registration keys) so it can be accessed anywhere in the world - as long as you have the current password or access code.

What makes the NOD worthwhile?

In one sentence: The NOD is simply the best, most complete, and current source of information on superior, new trees, shrubs, vines, perennials, and interior landscape plants.

Together with our website you have the most diverse and flexible reference tools imaginable. No published reference book or CD-ROM can compare to the precision and freshness of our data. No other website on new plants is backed up with the quality and frequency of our original research.

1. EXCLUSIVE WORKS like the first Hosta encyclopedia for computer - hundreds of cultivars and species are included. And with clickable online nursery sources too! Many of our cultivar checklists and small monographs are simply the best available today. We are more complete for over 45 genera than any other reference.

2. ACTIVE RESEARCH PROGRAM which searches out missing and little known information by hundreds of letters, emails, faxes, and calls each year. We actively search out useful facts and reply to member's questions.

3. LITERATURE REVIEW using hundreds of periodicals, books, theses, and rare documents from around the world. NODI functions like a very powerful abstracting service about ornamental cultivars. If you don't have the time or money to study the world's botanical and horticultural literature, let us do it for you!

4. FLEXIBLE FORMATS. Because we use over 155 data fields the encyclopedia accomodates a diversity of information - not just a few topics like in most online plant guides. New users are always surprised at the amount of available information that so-called "complete" reference manuals actual have left out.

5. ACCURATE, REVIEWED INFORMATION. We consult leading experts inside and outside the society to check our facts. Several of our editors and study group leaders have graduate degrees in horticultural taxonomy, botany, and ornamentals. And above all our literature citations allow you to confirm data yourself and do additional reading. And should you ever find an error just email or write for a prompt correction online.

6. CURRENT, UPDATED NEW DATA. Our site is updated weekly (and sometimes more often). Multiple editors with individual specialties are used to review material to assure accuracy and prompt posting. You always receive the latest, most practical and precise information.

One example: a nurseryman in the UK emailed us about a new plant and provided an address to it's source on the Internet. Within the hour we had the plant name and reference posted to our member's web site, the NODI. We think that's how the information age should help the world of horticulture.

7. ADVANCED SEARCHES. With our powerful search engine powered by WhatUSeek technology, you can find a cultivar without knowing it's species name or hybrid parentage. You can also search for specific experts, authors, and originators by name. (You may even find yourself a time or two). The index also includes all of our New Plant Page, T-LAN, MPI, and Cultivar.org sources too for more comprehensive coverage as a research tool. At last check we had over 29,000 different terms and epithets in the NODI Index.

8. "EVERYTHING IN ONE PLACE". The NOD was the first computer system to combine research quality plant descriptions and literature references with mailorder sources and practical horticultural recommendations on a single screen. Our members told us what their 'fantasy reference system' would be like and we made it happen. Instead of searching through dozens of references to compare and contrast cultivars, you have everything you need on one or at most two web pages. Thousands of hours of research has made this unique reference both possible and very affordable.

9. STUDY GROUPS function like small, highly specialized societies within our society. Members may share data with our study group members and the entire membership through websites, email, letters, and basic NOD II files. It has never been easier or more fun for enthusiasts in a particular plant group (not represented by a major plant society) to freely share data, plants, and observations.

10. SUPERB DIGITAL PHOTOS of select new and special plants are provided in wonderful 3.4 to 6.0 megapixel detail in sizes up to 1.9 megabytes. You'll not find any tiny, grainy, or fuzzy photos in our database.

11. MORE CULTIVARS. The NOD has the most cultivars ANYWHERE for over 80 genera.

Check your favorite reference books - you'll probably find a half or fewer in each genus.

Membership Dues (effective July 1, 2004)

These new levels are effective immediately. Previous levels and offers are no longer valid. Renewels are priced at the same level.

HAVE MORE THAN ONE BUILDING? You may submit multiple membership requests based on the number of users with offices in each building. For example, you may need a library membership (unlimited users) for building #1 and a corporate (single user) membership for building #2. Network access to NOS resources may NOT span more than a single facility unless access fees have been paid.

(1) Dues may be paid at any time of the year. Your membership will run 12 calendar months. If membership lapses, your access to the NODI plant database and journal may be interrupted until the correct fees are received and processed. Please plan to renew at least 30 days before your membership expires.
(2) Accessing the NODI database requires an internet-enabled computer with browser. Access is limited to online viewing only. No downloading, copying, duplication, file transfer, archiving, or printing of any member's content including the NODI and NOJ is permitted. If you need to have offline use of NODI or NOJ resources, members may purchase a CD-ROM archive for such use. Contact the society office for details.
(4) Preferred source links mean that member submissions in this category are always reviewed first by editors for placement in NOD and NPP pages. They are posted in a more timely manner than general submissions. When many nurseries offer a particular new plant, listings are reserved for corporate members and sponsors.
(5) Page sponsorships may include your logo and contact information of choice on a single NEW PLANT PAGE page. Sponsorships are on a first-come-first-serve basis and sponsors have the first right of renewel for a previously sponsored page.
(6) Featured Plant entries appear on this page and are available only to corporate or sponsoring members and by selection of the editorial board. The FEATURED PLANT page is viewed by tens of thousands of people each month and is one of the web's most widely consulted sources of new plant information. Entries must meet the inclusion criteria set by the society for what is considered a new or acceptable plant. Failure to submit a qualifying entry may result in loss of this membership benefit.
(7) Logo links put your corporate or institution logo on the NEW PLANT PAGE (NPP) instead of a simple text link. This commands immediate attention from the hundreds of thousands of annual readers of the NPP. Logos should be submitted in a size that displays well in a format no larger than 40 x 150 pixels. Larger logos reduced to this size usually do not present the desired effect.

To Join

Send check or money order in US dollars, including your full name, email address, and membership level desired.

If you wish to pay with a major credit or debit card, please use one of the reliable internet bill payment services who will mail us a check. Your own bank may offer this service as well.

NOTE: We must have your email address to send updated passwords and access codes for NEW ORNAMENTALS DATABASE - INTERNET (NODI). Notification by mail is not available.

PRIVACY POLICY: The society will not sell or release your email information without permission. We do not publish, sell, or distribute membership lists. If you want your email address available to potential plant buyers, please subscribe at the SPONSORSHIP LEVEL and indicate how you would like your contact information shared.

Make funds for membership dues payable to TAXONOMIC COMPUTER RESEARCH (our society sponsor).

Mail to: New Ornamentals Society, Membership Secretary, PO Box 12011, Raleigh, NC 27605 USA

Questions and Comments: Direct your comments to the above address or to ornamentals@lycos.com

Copyright 2002-2004. New Ornamentals Society. All Rights Reserved.
Society and membership information is subject to change.