# PlantFiles Scraper - Dave's Garden Plant Database (`lulzasaur/plantfiles-scraper`) Actor

Scrape 200K+ plants from Dave's Garden PlantFiles. Search by name, genus, or family. Get USDA hardiness zones, sun/water needs, bloom info, and community growing notes.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/lulzasaur/plantfiles-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [lulz bot](https://apify.com/lulzasaur) (community)
- **Categories:** E-commerce
- **Stats:** 1 total users, 0 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $10.00 / 1,000 results

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.
Actors are written with capital "A".

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.
The best way to integrate Actors is as follows.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md).

For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below.

For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt).

# README

## PlantFiles Scraper - Dave's Garden Plant Database

Extract plant data from [Dave's Garden PlantFiles](https://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/), 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

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

### Example output (detail mode)

```json
{
    "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

# Actor input Schema

## `searchQueries` (type: `array`):

Plant names, genus, family, or common names to search (e.g. "rose", "tomato", "Lythrum"). Each query searches the PlantFiles database.

## `maxListings` (type: `integer`):

Maximum total number of plants to scrape across all queries (1-10000).

## `scrapeDetails` (type: `boolean`):

Visit each plant's detail page to get full data: USDA zones, sun exposure, water needs, bloom info, foliage, soil pH, and community growing notes. Slower but much richer data.

## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`):

Optional proxy configuration for requests.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "searchQueries": [
    "rose"
  ],
  "maxListings": 100,
  "scrapeDetails": false
}
```

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "searchQueries": [
        "rose"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("lulzasaur/plantfiles-scraper").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = { "searchQueries": ["rose"] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("lulzasaur/plantfiles-scraper").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "searchQueries": [
    "rose"
  ]
}' |
apify call lulzasaur/plantfiles-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,lulzasaur/plantfiles-scraper"
        }
    }
}

```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/X2cu05KOdlxWC8uTN/builds/VigA5XKKp2L4FjMdq/openapi.json