Online Plant Databases
People often ask where I search out new plants for my designs. Besides books, I enjoy perusing online plant databases. These are great for narrowing down choices by picking key plant characteristics. For instance I can search for a 24" tall perennial that likes sun, has purple flowers, thrives in zone five, plus has an upright form. A great way to narrow down thousands of plants to two or three. Note that none of these are inclusive, so you'll have to use a combination of sites to find a good selection of plants.
Here are some of my favorites:
Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder
Midwest Groundcovers Plant Search
Perennial Resource Perennial Encyclopedia
UPDATE:
Here are some additional database suggestions from all of you!
Bluestone Perennials Plant Finder
Great Plant Picks (Pacific Northwest)
LBJ Wildflower Center Native Plant Database
Nursery Guide (Oregon)
Rhode Island Coastal Plant Guide
Royal Horticultural Society Plant Selector
Waterwise Database (zones 8-11)
The database below actually helps you ID plants. Love it!
New England Wild Flower Society Simple ID Key
This plant database is subscription-based. It has a wealth of plant information from Australia, but has spread into other parts of the world too.
Happy plant hunting!
