@Stephie Thank you! You're always so sweet! I hope you're sleeping soundly, considering it's 10 p.m. EST in United States! Have a great day tomorrow!

@stormy, I know the frustration of people with identification questions not knowing what to tell us so we can help them. You always work so hard to help with identification questions, and just want to help. I think people have tried to make the system ask for details in big letters while people are posting an identification question, but we're a huge corporation and we can't change some rules.

I try to remember that new people don't know that we've asked these things a hundred times or more. You know what that's like, you're an excellent teacher.

I have a couple of messages a usually try to write, and @Stephie does too, that have a formula. We welcome them, ask what we need to know, explain that we're different, refer them to the definition of an identification question, invite them to the help center, things like that. I'm not good at identifications, so once I do that, I end up leaving the hard work to the rest of you!

It's too late for me tonight, but I have some suggestions for messages you could use that are sort of like templates. That might take some of the frustration out. Hopefully tomorrow I'll either give you some ideas, or point you to questions where I've used it. @Stephie does an even better job than I do, so I could find you some examples of hers.

Most of the "Questionnaire" type thing you're looking for is pretty much in the definition of the identification tag. It's the first tag people see when they look for tags, but they don't necessarily read it, or they don't have all the information so they do what they can.

I recommend you bookmarking gardening.stackexchange.com/tags/identification/info, on your computer, and plug it in any time you want someone to learn how to write an identification. If you embed it, like you do with other links, it's easier. Also, to point someone to the Help Center, all you do is put the word help in between these brackets [].

If it's a new person, I like to point them to the How to Ask a Good Question page. That's easy too. Just use those same brackets and inside put the word Ask.

When you do it, don't put any space between the brackets and the letters. I have to put the spaces, so I can show it without it going there. [ help ]. [ Ask ]. In fact, there are a bunch of shortcuts like that. I think there on a help page. Wait, I'll go see.....

I can't find them. @NiallC. or @Stephie, would you kindly find the page with the comment shortcuts and link to it in here? I'm hoping it might help @stormy feel more empowered. Thanks!

@stormy, please don't take this as a criticism, it's not meant that way at all. It might be better for new people if we don't write comments about how frustrated we are with the system in a comment under their question. You only want to make things easier for everyone, but it might be better to take that kind of discussion in here to chat. Okay-I'm out!!! Hope you're having a wonderful evening!

@Shule Quick hi again!

@Sue this one? (cc @stormy)

@NiallC. Yup! Thank you kind sir!

@Sue It would be nice if we were a team in the first place. To see us 'experts' are humans is a good thing. As a team we could be far more powerful. Grins, this site is in the middle of change. Will be a good thing for us and the OPs.

I don't see where PC is helpful at all. Going along at the expense of our main goal...education of newbies? is just wrong.

I suppose I must go check out the 'rules' of SE. Arghhh. The rules certainly are expected to be the same across the board of sites? Home Improvement is nothing at all like gardening and landscaping....most people understand a little bit about the world around them, the interior of buildings for example. We are here to keep knowledge of the out of doors alive.

@stormy do you have vine maple in your area?

(Acer circinatum)

@Sue yes, indeed. Fast asleep. But today wasn’t as peaceful as planned: Minor 2 fainted during a school outing and scared half of her classmates, two teachers and our immediate family. All is well now. Just a little syncope, probably because she is recovering from a cold slept badly the last few nights.

@Stephie Oh dear, so sorry about Minor 2. I know different types of syncope, and the lightheadedness and dizziness and sometimes fainting that comes with it. It must have been quite scary, especially since it was during a school outing. Did you have to go get her from where they were? Glad she's better now, and hope the cold goes away quickly! You sound calm, is that the type of mother you are in general?

@stormy There are network-wide rules, meaning all the sites. As you've seen, each site has its own personality, and interpretations vary. There are also different types of moderation, where certain things are enforced more than others.

I have great faith in our crew, led by the tireless efforts of Niall C. who's been doing this for many years. If @Stephie and @kevinsky, who are the first two who have graciously nominated themselves, become our next mods, the team will be very strong, and I don't think there will be many changes, if any. They understand our culture.

That's very important.

Mods are volunteers, so they're not paid to enforce the rules, they just dedicate their time and love of the site to keep us headed in a positive direction.

@Sue thanks! My mom drove there to pick her up as I was >1 hour away at work, but by the time she got there, my daughter was - literally - back in the saddle. (The outing was to a stable.)

And yes, I tend to stay cool in a crisis. I might freak out afterwards, but never during.

@stormy I'm seeing more bees, now, especially on the catnip. Why would people kill hover flies?

We generally have a lot of pollinators, and my neighbors keep bees. So, it was very unusual that there weren't many bees.

@Shule Hey there Shule...People kill anything they do not understand. Like my thing about moles and voles and shrews...just a mom 'n pop operation for a lawn AU NATURALE...aeration, decimation of grubs and other populations of insects in the soil that are overpopulated, topdressing the lawn is my favorite...those piles of beautiful fruffy soil...and all we need to do is take a rake or broom and knock them down. I charged big bucks to do the same thing with my crews. Wonderful for lawns.

I haven't seen a single honey bee this year. No wasps either, some flying insects with piercing probosci (?) but anyone is allowed to pollinate in my garden. This year we are going to manually pollinate, haven't done so yet. I've got lots of flowers, mostly baby's breath (SO PRETTY) all through the garden. Seriously, no bees, not a one as yet.

Your neighbors have bees? And you haven't seen any?

@Sue As little as I know about PC on these sites, you, Sue with amazing Niall and gosh, Kevinsky/Stephanie...we have the BEST moderators, 'guides' possible. Why aren't you, Ms. Sue, a moderator? Or are you going to be our tireless, infamous cheerleader? Truly, a niche not appreciated more! But you most certainly are moderator stuff, are you not?

@Stephie your daughter is learning to ride? What 'style' is she doing right now? When I was 6 years old, in Japan, I found there was a horse place nearby off base. Boarding, riding, lessons...an arena in Japan. I grabbed some stuff out of a jar necessary to 'purchase' stuff...6 years old again...walked my bicycle with 2 flat tires to the stables, threw my money down and was put up on a horse to ride around the outside of the arena. Not allowed in the arena. I don't remember a single time..

...a single time that guy ever gave me change. Looking back. 6 years old riding all by myself, my parents didn't keep track very closely of little old me. One day, I decided I should ride in the arena. Walked in and my horse pawed the gravel and rolled. I hopped off of course but they stopped me for riding that day. There was a beautiful Japanese equestrian I followed like a puppy to her apartment in Tokyo. First time I saw mascara used. She took me to lunch for cold Osoba noodle soup.

...and then said, in Japanese, time for you to go home while it is light. And so I did. I did not learn Japanese, but I learned to understand what they meant and they what I wanted. Running around Tokyo as a 6 year old? I love the Japanese people. I was lucky?