[bushman]

hi there
i am tired and sick of wasting time trying to find plant images ( good quality & big enough) either in books or on line to show clients so i am thinking about buying horticopia cd-rom,which has most of the plant family pics and info i need but it doesnt seem to have some of the different plant cultivars on there, or the ones i us here in New Zealand. my question is- when showing clients the plants i have put in to there design is or would it be good enough to show them a photo/ picture of the same family but a different cultivar, a cultivar which is closest to the chosen plant in looks but may have say white flowers in the picture and a slightly darker shade of green then the chosen plant, and explain the differences to the client.
What do some of you designers do?
Thanks Bushman

[Bill Schwab]

We give them a budget based on plant container sizes, which very rarely vary on price. At the job start, we give them two book, ornamental trees of San Diego, and Landscape Plants of California. They are told to pick some things they like, and both books have full color, 8x10 glossy prints.

After they give us that list, we plug in to the areas the plants will go best, those the client has chosen.

By doing it this way, we limit what we sell to those plants specific to our area, and we have cut down the choices for each area to those listed in the books.

If that does not do it, we charge $125.00 per hour to meet and hand select any plants with the client. the dumbest thing our wholesale nurseries do out here is allow homeowners into nurseries on the retail side. It does nothing but cause mass confusion and takes our time, which, is money.

[NCSULandscaper]

i have horticopia and can go through pretty quick and make a layout of all plants with several images for customers to see. Its worth the money IMO.

[r schipul]

Bushman,

I do exactly as you say. If the exact cultivar isn't available I use the closest plant which is. IMO Horticopia is well worth the money. It is one of the most used programs on my computer while in season. I bought it for exactly what you mention but I find it just as valuable as a plant picker. When I have a certain look or nook to fill in a problem area I plug in all the variables. Soil, size, shape, sun or shade, flower color etc and in seconds have a list to choose from.