PlantFiles Scraper - Dave's Garden Plant Database

Extract plant data from Dave's Garden PlantFiles, one of the largest community-driven plant databases with 200,000+ plant entries.

What data can you scrape?

Basic mode (default)

Search results include:

• Common names and scientific names (genus + species)
• Image URL (thumbnail)
• Community stats (likes, reviews count)
• Plant URL for reference

Detail mode (scrapeDetails: true)

Full plant profile data including:

• Taxonomy: Family, genus, species, scientific name
• Growing conditions: USDA hardiness zones (min-max), sun exposure, water requirements
• Physical characteristics: Height, spread/spacing, foliage type and color
• Bloom info: Color, bloom time, bloom size, bloom characteristics
• Soil: pH requirements
• Other: Category (perennial, annual, etc.), propagation methods, seed collecting, danger info
• Regional data: Where the plant grows outdoors
• Community growing notes: User reviews with location, date, sentiment (positive/neutral/negative), and full comment text
• Ratings summary: Positive, neutral, and negative review counts

Input parameters

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
searchQueries	string[]	[]	Plant names, genus, family, or common names to search
maxListings	integer	100	Maximum total plants to return (1-10,000)
scrapeDetails	boolean	false	Visit detail pages for full data + growing notes
proxyConfiguration	object	-	Optional Apify proxy settings

Example input

{
    "searchQueries": ["rose", "tomato", "lavender"],
    "maxListings": 50,
    "scrapeDetails": true
}

Example output (detail mode)

{
    "commonName": "Purple Loosestrife, Wand Loosestrife",
    "genus": "Lythrum",
    "species": "virgatum",
    "family": "Lythraceae",
    "scientificName": "Lythrum virgatum",
    "category": "Perennials",
    "usdaZones": "3a-9b",
    "sunExposure": "Full Sun",
    "waterNeeds": "Average Water Needs; Water regularly; do not overwater",
    "height": "36-48 in. (90-120 cm)",
    "spread": "12-15 in. (30-38 cm)",
    "foliage": "Herbaceous",
    "foliageColor": null,
    "bloomColor": "Pink",
    "bloomTime": "Late Summer/Early Fall",
    "soilPh": "6.1 to 6.5 (mildly acidic), 6.6 to 7.5 (neutral), 7.6 to 7.8 (mildly alkaline)",
    "ratings": {
        "positive": 0,
        "neutral": 0,
        "negative": 4
    },
    "growingNotes": [
        {
            "username": "coriaceous",
            "location": "ROSLINDALE, MA",
            "date": "October 2015",
            "sentiment": "negative",
            "comment": "Those who wish to grow this handsome but ecologically damaging plant..."
        }
    ],
    "imageUrl": "https://www.davesgarden.com/guides/pf/thumbnail.php?image=...",
    "url": "https://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/629/",
    "searchQuery": "lythrum",
    "scrapedAt": "2026-04-25T12:00:00.000Z"
}

Use cases

• Gardening apps: Build plant databases with growing conditions and community advice
• USDA zone planning: Find plants suitable for specific hardiness zones
• Plant research: Analyze plant characteristics, bloom timing, and growing requirements
• Community sentiment: Aggregate gardener opinions and growing tips by region
• Nursery/retail: Enrich product catalogs with detailed plant care information
• Landscaping tools: Match plants to sun, water, and soil conditions

Performance

• Basic mode: ~40 plants per page, very fast (AJAX endpoint)
• Detail mode: ~1-2 plants per second (respects server rate limits)
• Recommended: Start with basic mode to explore, then use detail mode for specific plants of interest

Tips

• Search by common name ("rose", "tomato") for broad results
• Search by genus ("Rosa", "Solanum") for taxonomically specific results
• Search by family ("Rosaceae") for related plant groups
• The database has 200K+ entries; use maxListings to control output size
• Detail mode is significantly slower but provides much richer data including growing notes