CLICK & DOUBLE CLICK: INTERNET SOURCE TO GROW GARDEN OF GREEN THUMBS

Cybertip: Send your favorite sites to us so we can add them to the Resource Room on SEMissourian.com. If we don't already have a category for your favorites, we will add one.

The countryside is budding. Things are blooming and our thoughts turn to gardening.

On rainy or sunny days, gardeners can turn to the Internet for help in developing a green thumb.

Time Warner brings us the Virtual Garden

http://pathfinder.com/vg/

Joni: It has gardening features like "fresh picked," "armchair gardener," "weekend projects," "gardener's world" and "garden guru." Or you can visit the tool shed to look up a plant, find a source, talk to a gardener, check the weather, locate your planting zone or dig the net.

Peggy: Since it's raining today, I think we should check out the armchair gardener. It says put down your hoe and browse through the best of gardening articles from magazines like Sunset, Southern Living, This Old House and Orchids.

Joni: For weekend projects, they provide step-by-step plans and practical advice for the weekend warrior, instant gardens for the time-pressed and basic tools and techniques for the novice. But will they come and weed my front flower bed? That's what I want to know.

Peggy: The Internet has become so overwhelming, they organized "Dig the Net," the first searchable gardening database along with their Pick of the Crop, the best gardening sites. They also are host to the New York Botanical Garden, American Orchid Society and All-America Selections.

Joni: The garden guru gives you a chance to talk to gardeners around the world on the bulletin board and also read web columns from experts.

Peggy: If you think you rank up with the experts, you can send a photo of your garden. You can also play gardening games online and subscribe to an e-mail gardening newsletter.

Joni: If you want to check out gardening done in a big way, see the Missouri Botanical Garden at

http://www.mobot.org

Peggy: Even if you can't take a trip to the St. Louis gardens, you can take garden tours, visit the garden's reading room, look at plants in bloom and image galleries. If you are planning a visit, check every Monday for the plants that are currently in bloom at the garden.

Joni: You can take a look at the flowers you are likely to see by viewing the galleries. You'll find photos of azaleas, crocus, and tree sculptures and others. You can also take garden tours, including a quick tour of the whole garden, the Kemper Center for Home Gardening and the Japanese Garden.

Peggy: The pages with lots of photos take a while to load, but these beautiful photos are worth the wait.

http://www.gardenmag.com

Joni: Virtual Gardener the electronic magazine with organic roots has tips and tales, feature stories, plant profiles, Q&A, a book feature and free classifieds. They also have archives of past articles.

Peggy: Pick a flower and you can find a page. African violets, hibiscus, irises, orchids, roses, or wild flowers. Let's look at wild flowers at the Florida Wild Flower Showcase.

www(tilde)wane.scri.fsu.edu/(tilde)mikems/

Joni: They are dedicated to wild flowers and the beauty found within. Florida boasts more than 3,000 species of flowering plants. You can click to information on many from this site. And you can take submissions of photos, in case you capture a beautiful bloom while on vacation.

Peggy: Luckily they list both the scientific name and the common name, so we amateurs have a sporting chance in locating something we recognize. Polygala Nana is more commonly known as Bachelor's Button. But apparently they grow 'em differently in Florida. This photo doesn't look like the Bachelor's Buttons I have grown in my yard.

Joni: The only thing I found offensive was this site's address, two tildes. Now here's a web address I like. We're looking for Better Homes and Gardens. We find it at

http://www.betterhomesandgardens.com/

It's long, but it makes sense.

Peggy: The gardening editors give tips and techniques. Readers have a discussion group to discuss landscaping, ornamentals, small victories and the occasional embarrassing moment. How do you have an embarrassing moment?

Joni: The site has a gardening map, showing where and when to plant. They also have a list of mail-order catalogs recommended by the garden guys.

Peggy: The home improvement encyclopedia which gives you step-by-step techniques for what to do if your yard has a slope or how to use sun and shade. On the main page, you can find information on all the different features in the BH&G. And you can search more than 1,000 home improvement tips with 125 shockwave animations. Whether fixing a clogged drain, building a deck, wiring a new addition or landscaping the yard.

Joni: Better Homes and Gardens is celebrating 75 years. You can browse through old covers from the Fruit, Garden and Home, as the magazine was first known.

Peggy: Almost every gardening company in the world has a web page out there. Many have online catalogs, reference libraries, newsletters. No more waiting at the mailbox for seed catalogs.

What's your favorite gardening site? E-mail us at clicksemissourian.com

See you in Cyberspace.

~Joni Adams is managing editor, and Peggy Scott is graphics editor at the Southeast Missourian.