How plantsbythebook decides what to publish, where its facts come from, and what it refuses to claim. Last updated 12 October 2026.
Named sources, for anything factual
Hardiness zones come from the 2023 USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map. Growing guidance is sourced to USDA and cooperative-extension material. Smart-garden compatibility and cost claims are checked against manufacturer documentation and named retailer listings. Pet-safety information comes from the ASPCA’s Toxic and Non-Toxic Plants database. Each guide ends with the list of sources it used, so you can read them yourself.
Checked against the source before it is published
Before a guide goes live, every sentence that attributes a fact to a source is checked against that source. If the source contradicts the sentence, or does not contain the fact, the sentence is corrected to match the source or it is cut. We do not go looking for a friendlier source to make a claim pass. A guide is not published while any attributed claim fails that check.
What we refuse to claim
- That a zone tells you what will thrive. A hardiness zone describes average winter cold only. It says nothing about sun, summer heat, rainfall or soil. You can confirm your zone at the USDA’s own map, planthardiness.ars.usda.gov.
- That a fit score is a guarantee. Fit scores come from each plant’s sourced sun, water and hardiness-zone needs, matched to the spot you describe. They cannot know your exact soil, your microclimate or a late frost.
- That a plant is safe to eat. Where a source documents that part of a plant is edible, we say which part and how it is prepared, or we say that our source does not cover it. That never means the whole plant is safe. This site is not plant-identification or foraging guidance.
- That a plant is safe around your pet or your child. For pets we report what the ASPCA database lists, animal by animal, and we add no severity word it does not use. We give no veterinary or medical advice.
- That a part fits when we have not checked the format. Smart-garden fitment is stated by pod format. Where only the maker’s own refill fits a system, we say so. Confirm your exact model before you buy.
Corrections
We would rather be corrected than be wrong quietly. If a zone, a date, a plant’s listed needs or a fitment on this site is wrong, tell us through the contact page, with the page and what looks off. We check it against the source and fix it if it is wrong. A guide’s “Updated” date moves when its text changes.
Who writes this
Guides are published under the editorial byline Thomas Kwayne. That is a pen name for the site’s editorial process, not a fabricated expert. There are no invented credentials here, no borrowed job titles and no stock-photo author. More on the About page.
How these pages are produced
Research, drafting and fact-checking on this site are AI-assisted, working against the sources named above, under human editorial direction. A person decides what the site covers, sets the rules every guide must pass, and answers for what is published.
We say so because a site that argues against invented expertise has no business being coy about its own process. What that does not change: every factual claim traces to a named source, and no claim appears here that we could not point you at. Those rules are the reason to trust a page on this site, not who, or what, typed it.
Independence
The site is funded by affiliate commissions, disclosed in full on the affiliate disclosure page. No manufacturer pays for coverage, a ranking or a review, and no commission changes what we say fits. See also our privacy policy.