Garden Apps for Smart Phones

Now that most of us have put our gardens to bed, have we forgotten about them? No!
Are we already making plans for our next experiment in growing? Yes! (well, we hope you are)
Would I like to use technology to make the planning easier? Yes!
Based on that, we recently did some crowd sourcing to find out what gardening apps are out there and which ones people are using. The short list below is just that, a short list, but it is intended to give you a place to start if you are looking for apps to help plan your garden, or identify what's in the garden, especially if you're a newbie. To assist in finding these apps, we have included pricing and links to iTunes should you wish to download one or two. And if you want advice from some other sources, here are a few links to other lists:
 Wall Street Journal
New York Times
Global Garden Friends
Phoenix New Times
Gardenista.com

Let's Go Garden!

Garden Compass The Garden Compass App allows you to take a photo of a plant, disease or pest and submit it to a team of Garden Advisors who will identify it for you, as well as provide you with specific product recommendations to resolve any problems you may have. FREE

Garden Time Planner This planning tool helps gardeners know when to sow, transplant and expect to harvest vegetables and herbs specific to their region. A recent addition is that the app now includes annual flowers in the database of plant listings. FREE

Garden Minder This all-in-one app has options for creating and designing a garden or using a preplanned template, best used for vegetables and other edibles in raised beds. An A to Z listing of vegetables includes directions on each crop and how to grow them. FREE

Leafsnap Leafsnap, an app created by researchers from Columbia University, University of Maryland and the Smithsonian Insitiution, allows users to take a picture of a leaf then use the app to help identify the species. FREE

Plant Diagnostic Sample Submission This app allows users to submit digital photos to a university diagnostic lab for identification of plant diseases or pests. FREE

Our Rose Garden A smart phone app specifically for rose lovers, Our Rose Garden features information about roses, how to plant and prune them as well as how to overwinter your favorites. Created by the University of Illinois Extension, this app also includes a gallery to track favorite roses and includes several videos about rose care.