diff --git a/app/models/garden.rb b/app/models/garden.rb
index 8e17873ce..ecacfc17f 100644
--- a/app/models/garden.rb
+++ b/app/models/garden.rb
@@ -7,6 +7,8 @@ class Garden < ActiveRecord::Base
   has_many :plantings, :order => 'created_at DESC'
   has_many :crops, :through => :plantings
 
+  default_scope order("lower(name) asc")
+
   def garden_slug
     "#{owner.login_name}-#{name}".downcase.gsub(' ', '-')
   end
diff --git a/app/views/plantings/_form.html.haml b/app/views/plantings/_form.html.haml
index cdbb15531..b7fcc6b6e 100644
--- a/app/views/plantings/_form.html.haml
+++ b/app/views/plantings/_form.html.haml
@@ -8,11 +8,11 @@
 
   .control-group
     = f.label 'What did you plant?', :class => 'control-label'
-    .controls= collection_select(:planting, :crop_id, Crop.all, :id, :system_name, :selected => @crop.id)
+    .controls= collection_select(:planting, :crop_id, Crop.all, :id, :system_name, :selected => @planting.crop_id || @crop.id)
   .control-group
     = f.label 'Where did you plant it?', :class => 'control-label'
     .controls= collection_select(:planting, :garden_id,
-        Garden.where(:owner_id => current_member), :id, :name, :selected => @garden.id)
+        Garden.where(:owner_id => current_member), :id, :name, :selected => @planting.garden_id || @garden.id)
   .control-group
     = f.label 'When?', :class => 'control-label'
     .controls= f.date_select :planted_at, options = { :include_blank => true }, html_options = { :class => "span1" }
diff --git a/spec/factories/garden.rb b/spec/factories/garden.rb
index 12d95040f..d699e5e58 100644
--- a/spec/factories/garden.rb
+++ b/spec/factories/garden.rb
@@ -3,5 +3,15 @@ FactoryGirl.define do
     name 'Springfield Community Garden'
     description "This is a **totally** cool garden"
     owner
+
+    # the following are used for testing alphabetical ordering
+    factory :garden_a do
+      name 'A garden starting with A'
+    end
+
+    factory :garden_z do
+      name 'Zzzz this garden makes me sleepy'
+    end
+
   end
 end
diff --git a/spec/models/garden_spec.rb b/spec/models/garden_spec.rb
index 40b17cc3a..58dc4a591 100644
--- a/spec/models/garden_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/models/garden_spec.rb
@@ -59,4 +59,12 @@ describe Garden do
     end
   end
 
+  context 'ordering' do
+    it "should be sorted alphabetically" do
+      z = FactoryGirl.create(:garden_z)
+      a = FactoryGirl.create(:garden_a)
+      Garden.first.should == a
+    end
+  end
+
 end
diff --git a/spec/views/plantings/edit.html.haml_spec.rb b/spec/views/plantings/edit.html.haml_spec.rb
index 15f754d48..d5b12e3b9 100644
--- a/spec/views/plantings/edit.html.haml_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/views/plantings/edit.html.haml_spec.rb
@@ -11,11 +11,17 @@ describe "plantings/edit" do
       :email => 'wrong@example.com'
     )
 
-    @crop = FactoryGirl.create(:crop)
-    @garden = FactoryGirl.create(:garden, :owner => @right_member)
+    # creating two crops to make sure that the correct one is selected
+    # in the form.
+    @tomato = FactoryGirl.create(:tomato)
+    @maize = FactoryGirl.create(:maize)
+
+    # and likewise for gardens
+    @garden =  FactoryGirl.create(:garden_z, :owner => @right_member)
+    @garden2 = FactoryGirl.create(:garden_a, :owner => @right_member)
 
     @planting = assign(:planting,
-      FactoryGirl.create(:planting, :garden => @garden, :crop => @crop)
+      FactoryGirl.create(:planting, :garden => @garden, :crop => @tomato)
     )
 
   end
@@ -47,11 +53,20 @@ describe "plantings/edit" do
 
     it "renders the edit planting form" do
       assert_select "form", :action => plantings_path(@planting), :method => "post" do
-        assert_select "select#planting_garden_id", :name => "planting[garden_id]"
-        assert_select "select#planting_crop_id", :name => "planting[crop_id]"
         assert_select "input#planting_quantity", :name => "planting[quantity]"
         assert_select "textarea#planting_description", :name => "planting[description]"
       end
     end
+
+    it "chooses the right crop" do
+      assert_select "select#planting_crop_id",
+        :html => /option value="#{@tomato.id}" selected="selected"/
+    end
+
+    it "chooses the right garden" do
+      assert_select "select#planting_garden_id",
+        :html => /option value="#{@garden.id}" selected="selected"/
+    end
+
   end
 end
diff --git a/spec/views/plantings/new.html.haml_spec.rb b/spec/views/plantings/new.html.haml_spec.rb
index c9ec1aeef..b97e54187 100644
--- a/spec/views/plantings/new.html.haml_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/views/plantings/new.html.haml_spec.rb
@@ -5,12 +5,15 @@ describe "plantings/new" do
     @member = FactoryGirl.create(:member)
 
     # create gardens and crops to populate dropdowns
-    @garden1 = FactoryGirl.create(:garden, :owner => @member, :name => 'Garden1')
-    @garden2 = FactoryGirl.create(:garden, :owner => @member, :name => 'Garden2')
+    @garden_a = FactoryGirl.create(:garden, :owner => @member)
+    @garden_z = FactoryGirl.create(:garden, :owner => @member)
     @crop1 = FactoryGirl.create(:tomato)
     @crop2 = FactoryGirl.create(:maize)
 
-    assign(:planting, FactoryGirl.create(:planting, :garden => @garden1))
+    assign(:planting, FactoryGirl.create(:planting,
+      :garden => @garden_a,
+      :crop => @crop2
+    ))
 
   end
 
@@ -24,8 +27,9 @@ describe "plantings/new" do
   context "logged in" do
     before(:each) do
       sign_in @member
+      assign(:planting, Planting.new())
       assign(:crop, @crop2)
-      assign(:garden, @garden2)
+      assign(:garden, @garden_z)
       render
     end
 
@@ -45,7 +49,7 @@ describe "plantings/new" do
 
     it "selects a garden given in a param" do
       assert_select "select#planting_garden_id",
-        :html => /option value="#{@garden2.id}" selected="selected"/
+        :html => /option value="#{@garden_z.id}" selected="selected"/
     end
   end
 end