Regarding provenance, I think it's useful to keep a paper record as well as a database. Those of us who have been around a while (remember FORTRAN? Or keypunching?) know that old digital information can become inaccessible. Keeping the seed lists from which we ordered seeds many years ago, with our handwritten notes on them, can be helpful in tracing data that might otherwise be forgotten. For instance, when I recently updated my database after moving to a new home, I went back and added geographical origin to a number of entries for which I had formerly included only the collectors and years. The file of dusty old seed lists allowed me to do this. I also print out my database once a year so I can put the hard copy on a clipboard and check it against what's actually still alive, or check identification and location. Now that my protected bulbs are in raised beds instead of pots, it's a little easier to keep track of where they are, though I had a numbered grid system for the pots too. On the other hand, in the beds it is all too easy for the labels to get buried, and I can't read them at a distance (I use embossed aluminum labels). I've started putting the labels on groundcloth pins to avoid this problem, and am using these where feasible in the garden too. Jane McGary Portland, Oregon, USA Paul Licht wrote >Dylan highlights a very important and often unappreciated aspect of plant >collections; namely, the origin of plants and associated data (provenance).