Changelog

Added a printable one-pager for gardeners showcasing four key features: the neighbourhood map, wildlife insights, community-powered plant recommendations, and local seed swaps. Both gardener and nursery flyers now use standardized QR tracking codes.

Corrected the phone number on the Yard Sticks co-branded business card and fixed logo transparency so the PDF imports cleanly into Canva without a white background appearing.

Co-branded partner business cards can now be exported as print-ready PDFs. The Yard Sticks Nurseries card is the first to ship with a clean transparent logo and a one-command PDF export script.

Partner campaign pages now feature a prominent partnership banner with both logos, a warm welcome message, and a streamlined conversion flow. Screenshots walk new users through the signup process. The design adapts to each partner's brand color.

The add-plant modal now supports selecting multiple plants at once with quantity controls, whether you came from a campaign link or the regular homepage. Pick your plants, adjust quantities, and log them all in one go.

Plants from a campaign link now skip onboarding modals and open a dedicated logging flow. You can select multiple plants at once with quantity controls, all attributed to the campaign. The flow uses the partner name and clear messaging about what gets linked.

Password reset emails now correctly link to the reset page. Also updated the reset email with branded Hortus styling.

Added analytics tracking to the "Contact sales" links on the registration page to measure partner and researcher leads from in-person flyer QR codes.

Refreshed the partner value-prop page to better reflect the plant lifecycle feedback partners get from Hortus.

Added a printable nursery partner flyer with dashboard screenshots and QR code, linked from the partners page.

The homepage now shows a visual tour through every feature with real screenshots — so you can see exactly what Hortus looks like before signing up. Also added a dedicated partners page at /partners with a nursery-focused walkthrough.

The researcher heatmap now shows all of Canada when "All Canada" is selected, not just the GTA. Dormant season months are now consistent across gardener and researcher views for all regions.

Species with no platform-wide data no longer show a misleading "100% (0 plants)" Hortus average — they now show "No data" instead.

Switching between Clusters and Heatmap on the partner dashboard is now instant — no more jarring position jump. The time slider animation glides smoothly instead of stepping, and a new waveform sparkline under the scrub bar shows weekly sign-up volume at a glance.

When a user submits a new plant for catalog review, the admin now receives an email with the plant name and submitter — no more checking the queue manually.

Removed the oversized social media banner from the weekly garden update — the email now opens with a clean, compact header. Also fixed colors appearing washed out for users reading emails in dark mode.

Added privacy-respecting product analytics to understand how people use Hortus. Tracks key moments like signing up, logging plants, and reading Learn articles — with a reverse proxy to ensure reliable data collection. Person profiles are only created for logged-in users.

The Map tab on the partner dashboard now offers a heatmap view that instantly shows where your customers are concentrated. A new time slider lets you watch how your campaign spread geographically week by week — hit play to see the story unfold. Partners can also see conversion rates per traffic source, drop-off tips, species survival compared to the Hortus platform average, and what other plants their customers are growing.

Learn articles now include structured data for Google rich results, social preview images for sharing on Twitter and LinkedIn, and proper sitemap entries so search engines can discover every article.

When you scan a QR code or click a campaign link, logging your plant is now seamless — even if you haven't set up your garden type yet. The app also now shows which campaign you're logging for instead of asking you to pick one.

Partners can now share a campaign link or QR code with customers. When someone scans the QR code on a plant tag, they land on a branded landing page showing live stats and a one-click CTA to join. Each partner can customize their landing page with their own logo, website link, and brand color. The Reach tab on the partner dashboard shows the full picture at a glance: visitor count, plants tracked, survival rate, top species, geographic reach, traffic sources (QR vs social vs direct), conversion rates, and week-over-week growth. A direct link to the landing page is now in the dashboard header so partners can preview what customers see.

The Plant Finder got a full UX overhaul. A new coverage progress bar shows how many active months your garden (or community) covers, with encouraging messages as you improve. The bloom timeline is now consistent across both tabs with the same colours and legend. Clicking a month now clearly filters recommendations — removable filter chips show what's active. Wildlife icons on plant cards are now labeled (no more mystery music notes). Each recommendation shows a match quality indicator and natural language explaining why it's suggested.

New Plant Finder in the Community menu recommends native plants based on bloom gaps in your garden and your 5 km community. Two tabs show what benefits you personally and what your neighbourhood needs most. Filter by plant type, light, wildlife support, and more. Tap months in the bloom timeline to focus recommendations.

The "Fill Your Gaps" section in the Bloom Calendar was recommending invasive species like Norway Maple. It now uses province-aware nativity checks so you only see plants native to your region.

Garden score now factors in badges earned (+10 per badge), making diverse engagement count toward your level. Expanded from 4 tiers to 6: Seedling → Sprout → Gardener → Naturalist → Steward → Ecosystem Builder, with higher thresholds that make progression feel meaningful. The badges page got a full redesign — expandable cards with full descriptions, a level roadmap, and score breakdown.

Badges are now awarded automatically when you add plants — no more waiting. A toast notification slides in to celebrate when you earn a badge or reach a new achievement tier. All existing users have been backfilled with their earned badges.

Submitted plants now go through a curation workflow. Admins can enrich catalog entries with photos, descriptions, and wildlife tags before approving. Approved submissions earn the submitter a Field Scout badge and a notification email. Rejected submissions are cleanly removed from the garden. Pending plants are no longer visible on profiles to other users.

Native plants now show a green "Native" badge in search results. Quantity selector lets you add multiple at once. The info popup no longer duplicates content, and light requirements display properly. Sugar Maple and 48 other species now have full catalog descriptions.

Email template cards in the admin dashboard now show color-coded left borders matching their send schedule — amber for instant, blue for daily, green for weekly.

Removed the demo "Partner Spotlight: Sample Nursery" article from the Learn page. Remaining articles are real editorial content by the Hortus team.

Cleaned up the homepage — removed redundant sections and renamed "Government & Conservation" to "Partner Organizations" to better represent nurseries and other partners. Updated the About page with current data source attributions and added nurseries to The Bigger Picture.

The "Who Stopped By" wildlife cards now show a "Supported by your garden" badge. Tap it to see exactly which of your plants attract that species. Your Field Journal also shows how many species your garden supports.

The Learn section now feels like part of the app instead of a separate blog. Consistent header, cover images, compact layout, and easier to navigate.

All Hortus emails now feature the Sol Invictus logo, brand colors, and a cleaner layout. Weekly digest emails include the brand banner.

When browsing plants to add, tap the (i) icon to see details — bloom period, height, soil preference, and habitat — without leaving the search.

Added PostHog for product analytics — pageviews, session recordings, funnels, and drop-off analysis to better understand how people use Hortus.

The Mining Bee in "Who stopped by?" got a glow-up — swapped the intense macro shot for a fluffy tawny bee hanging from flowers. Much less threatening.

Cumulative users chart now shows daily granularity over 90 days instead of monthly buckets, making it easier to see the impact of specific events and campaigns.

A floating feedback button now appears in the lower right corner of every page. Tap it to report a bug, suggest a feature, or share any thought — it goes straight to the team.

Removed the "Introduced" badge from plant search results. Nativity is now shown only as "Native" (based on your province) or "Invasive" — clearer and more accurate.

When browsing plants to add, you can now filter by "Pots & containers" under Good For to see only plants that'll thrive without ground soil. Auto-enabled for balcony growers.

Hortus now asks where you grow — in a garden or on a balcony — so we can recommend plants that'll actually thrive in your space. You can update this anytime in Settings.

Plants in the catalog are now tagged as container-suitable or ground-only, based on root type, height, and growth habit. This will power smarter recommendations for balcony growers.

You now see real-time feedback as you type your username — whether it's available, taken, or invalid. No more surprises after hitting Create Account.

The "popular plants from nearby gardens" count no longer includes your own garden, so the number accurately reflects your actual neighbors.

Your province is now automatically detected from your address when you sign up, improving regional plant recommendations and community features.

New users are now logged in instantly — no more email confirmation step. The plant quickstart now asks "Want to add any popular plants?" instead of feeling like a required step, and you can always get back to it from your empty garden.

Added geography view to internal admin dashboards with a Canada map showing user distribution, metro leaderboards, and expansion opportunity detection.

When you search by a regional name like "Mayflower", the result now shows why it matched — e.g. "Trailing Arbutus — Also known as Mayflower". No more confusion when the official name differs from the name you know.

Message emails are now less noisy. You get an instant email only when someone messages you for the first time. For ongoing conversations, a daily digest tells you how many unread messages you have. Toggle in Settings > Notifications.

Anna's Hummingbird, Steller's Jay, Western Tiger Swallowtail, Cedar Waxwing, and 7 more species added to the wildlife roster. BC and Alberta users now see locally relevant wildlife in "Who stopped by?" Total roster: 39 species.

Hortus now supports neighbourhood-level stats for five major metros: GTA, Ottawa–Gatineau, Metro Vancouver, Greater Montreal, and Calgary. Each metro has sub-region definitions for local breakdowns. Growing seasons are calibrated per city.

Added 54 new native plant species for BC, Alberta, and Quebec — including Western Sword Fern, Salal, Red Flowering Currant, Blanket Flower, Bunchberry, and more. Every province now has 100+ species in the catalog. Plant nativity is now resolved per province using VASCAN data.

The wildlife spotting feature now shows every species active in your area this month — not just the ones your plants attract. A "Your garden" badge highlights species your native plants specifically support. Added 5 new birds: White-breasted Nuthatch, Downy Woodpecker, Dark-eyed Junco, Red-winged Blackbird, and Mourning Dove.

All 236 native plant wildlife tags cross-referenced against NC State Extension, Illinois Wildflowers, Xerces Society, and other authoritative databases. 70 new tags added and verified, including deer resistance for toxic/aromatic species and songbird tags for seed-producing plants.

All native plant descriptions, soil preferences, and habitat info have been rewritten for clarity. Photos updated with fresh Wikimedia Commons images. UI labels now show "Bloom Time" and "Preferred Soil Type" for better readability.

Nursery partners can now see their campaign participants segmented by experience level (Seedlings, Growers, Cultivators) and native commitment. Includes auto-generated actionable insights for cross-sell opportunities, mortality risk alerts, geographic hotspots, and demand concentration — plus species pairing analysis for bundling.

All 262 plants in the catalog now display a Wikipedia-sourced photo. No more blank placeholders — browse, search, and identify species at a glance.

Hostas, hydrangeas, peonies, and 22 more common non-native plants are now in the catalog so you can log your full garden and see an honest native percentage. Native plants in your garden list now sport a green left border — no label needed.

All 237 plant wildlife tags audited against GloBI, VASCAN, and Rutgers E271. 371 new tags added, 448 confirmed as verified, 13 misspelled scientific names corrected, 232 VASCAN taxonomy IDs populated, and deer resistance expanded from 58 to 106 plants using peer-reviewed data.

API pricing simplified to Free, Starter ($39/mo), and Pro (contact sales). Researcher and Partner accounts are now sales-led — contact us for access to the analytics dashboard and biodiversity data exports.

See which bees, butterflies, hummingbirds, and songbirds should be visiting based on what's blooming in your garden. Mark species as spotted to build your personal field journal. Community stats show what your neighbours are seeing.

Wildlife & Habitat cards are now clickable — drill down into any wildlife type to see a searchable species table with native badges, garden counts, and total quantities. Trends & Growth charts now use interactive recharts with proper Y-axis numbers and hover tooltips instead of basic SVG.

Get notified when someone sends you a message, is interested in your seed offers, or before events you RSVP to. Weekly digest emails summarize nearby garden activity every Monday. All notifications are opt-in with per-type toggles in Settings.

New /learn section with curated articles about native plant gardening in the GTA. Browse by category (guides, stories, research, partner spotlights), read featured articles, and discover plants mentioned in each piece. Built for SEO and designed to welcome guest bloggers.

New /brand page with downloadable logos, app icons, color palette, typography, and usage guidelines. Footer tagline standardized to "Every garden counts." across all pages, and Brand link added to every footer.

Paid API tiers now include live community data — not just the plant catalog. Starter gets community stats and top species. Pro adds monthly growth and native adoption trends. Business unlocks regional breakdown by GTA municipality.

The Research Portal now has 6 tabs: Overview with 8 KPI cards, sparklines, and quick insights; Species Explorer with a sortable, filterable, exportable species table; Heatmap Analytics with react-leaflet integration and full HeatmapControl (density + bloom modes); Wildlife & Habitat with community-wide pollinator coverage analysis and bloom gap detection; Trends & Growth with cumulative line charts and native adoption tracking; and enhanced Data Export. A geo-filter bar lets researchers focus on any GTA sub-region across all tabs.

The research portal now formally supports four use cases: academic researchers, ecologists, landscape architects, and urban planners. Updated pricing, about, and guide pages describe what each sub-persona gets from the dashboard. Internal persona definitions live in docs/PERSONAS.md.

Plant density and bloom density heatmaps are now exclusive to researcher accounts. Free gardeners still see a heatmap overlay when viewing pollinator corridor analysis. This change makes advanced spatial analytics a key value add for our research partners.

Garden Score is now simpler: each native plant earns 3 points, non-native plants earn 1 point. Everyone earns points for any plant they grow, but native plants are worth 3x more.

Category filter chips (Wildflower, Shrub, Tree, Grass/Sedge/Rush, Fern) are now available in Seed Exchange, Add Plant, and Wishlist — matching the map filter for a consistent experience.

The guide now covers all three roles: Gardener, Researcher / Analyst, and Campaign Partner. Partners get 8 dedicated sections covering onboarding, impact dashboard, exports, and program management. Gardener sections now include plant removal feedback, wildlife browsing, PWA install, and bug reporting.

Partners managing multiple programs can now switch between them from a dropdown in the dashboard header — no more navigating back to the list. Partners can also create new programs directly from the dashboard.

The partner dashboard logging timeline is now a proper interactive chart with hover tooltips, clean axis labels, and responsive sizing. Daily registration data is easier to read at a glance.

Participant markers on the partner dashboard map now link to gardener profiles — click any marker to view their public profile in a new tab.

Removing a plant now asks a quick question — did it not make it? Your feedback helps partner organizations track survival rates. Plants that stick around earn milestone badges at 6 months, 1 year, and 2 years. Health check-ins have been replaced with this lighter approach.

Program organizers can now view aggregated impact data for their planting programs — total plants, survival rates, species breakdown, and geographic spread. Includes a CSV export with no individual user data exposed.

Hortus now supports community planting programs. When you join a program like Take Root 2026, you can tag any plant as a program plant — your garden journal becomes an impact tracker for the organization behind it. Look for the green toggle when adding plants.

Tap a status on any plant to log how it's doing — thriving, growing, struggling, or didn't make it. Each check-in gives you a care tip tailored to your plant type. Track your plant's health over time with a mini timeline, and earn the Plant Parent badge on your first check-in.

Tap "See All Activity" at the bottom of the Nearby Activity widget to open a full filterable view. Filter by type (plants, photos, events, offers, badges, new gardeners), adjust the search radius, and scroll to load older activity.

The Garden Photos empty state now shows your plants with one-tap camera buttons — no more hunting through menus to add your first photo. Photo captions are always visible.

Nearby Activity items are now fully clickable to view that gardener's profile. Every profile page shows a Recent Activity section with plants added, photos, badges, and seed offers.

Filter plants by what they attract — bees, butterflies, hummingbirds, or songbirds — when adding plants or browsing your wishlist. No search query needed.

The plant density heatmap now covers every garden on the map (previously missing ~78% due to a data limit). Expanding the corridor card auto-enables it.

Private garden pins are now offset 400-600m (was 100-150m) from your real address — several blocks away instead of next door. Violet pins distinguish approximate locations.

Manage your account from /settings: update your password, toggle location privacy, export all your data as JSON, and delete your account.

When something goes wrong, you can now report the issue directly from the error page. Reports go to the admin dashboard for triage.

Hortus can now be added to your home screen on mobile. Shared links on Twitter/X now show a large preview image.

Upload photos of your plants and garden. Browse a community feed of recent garden photos from nearby gardeners.

Resolved issues with email confirmation links and password reset flows not completing correctly.

New sign-up flow asks for your garden address upfront so your location is set from day one.

See which pollinators, songbirds, and butterflies your plants support. Get recommendations for what to plant next to fill wildlife gaps.

Private gardens no longer appear as phantom clusters on the neighbourhood map.

Refreshed all homepage and onboarding copy around the three pillars: grow with purpose, connect with neighbours, discover your landscape.

Added UUID validation, input sanitization, and generic error messages across every API route.

Resolved a bug where new users could not complete sign-up when email confirmation was turned on.

Researchers can now purchase export licenses to download anonymized biodiversity datasets via Stripe checkout.

See your garden's bloom coverage month by month and identify gaps where adding a new species would extend pollinator support.

A public REST API for accessing aggregated, anonymized plant data. Interactive docs at /data/docs.

Researchers and developers can generate and manage API keys from their settings page.

Updated typography to Fraunces display font and refreshed call-to-action buttons with warm amber accents.

Plants are now automatically classified as native or non-native. Admins can review and approve community-submitted catalog entries.

Introduced a structured catalog with bloom periods, height ranges, soil preferences, and wildlife tags for every species.

Initial public launch with secure authentication, username-based login, polished UI, and core plant tracking features.