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
CalFlora (low-water use plants)
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!
