find out what this plant is?

[squidgey]

hi all

can anyone suggest a website with a good searchable plant database as i have a plant that i know nothing about apart from what it looks like (no flowers yet though) ive searched on google but no joy every search wants the name of the plant which i dont have

any help appreciated thanks

lisa

[pjm007]

Hi, Have you tried this ?

[squidgey]

yes didnt come up with it -also you can only see half of the result unless you pay a membership fee so i presume the answer i'm looking for is one of the ones i can't see :-(

any other suggestions....

[pjm007]

Could you give a brief description of the plant ? Someone might be able to ID it from height/spread, alternate or opposite buds, leaf shape/colour.

[squidgey]

 i'll try my best to describe it here goes-

the plant in question is about 5-6 feet its very twiggy and a round tree type canopy/top.

it has small linear leaves about 6cm in length and about a cm in width.they have a smooth surface and a smooth edge.

it is dark green and purple - some leaves seem completely purple . on the leaves that have got some green colouring the vein running through it is reddish purple too.

i thing thats about it . if anyone has an iea what it may b it would be much appreiciated

thanks

lisa

[greenfingers]

Lisa, I would think your best bet is to snip off a small piece or a leaf, put it in a polythene bag to keep it fresh and take it to your nearest decent nursery and see if they can identify it for you.

[Gilli]

The gardening section on the BBC website also has a plant finder.

[Ells]

Try www.crocus.co.uk it's been very useful to me lately as a new gardener (god i'm sounding old).

They also do a de

sign service and if you're crafty they'll give you a list of suitable plants without having to pay a penny!

[Dom Tuk]

purple beech??

[cat woman]

My husband thinks  it could be a Smoke tree.

[Gilli]

Following on from the last suggestion, does this plant have any little flower buds yet ? If it's a smoke tree (or cotinus to give it its "proper" name), these will be like tiny yellow balls, when they open they create fluffy balls , almost cotton wool like (or at least that's how it seems to me). Only thing is, I thought the leaves on a smoke tree tended to beround as opposed to "linear".

Look at this link:

http://www.rhs.org.uk/rhsplantselector/plantdetail.aspx? plantid=45120

It did cross my mind from the description of the leaves that it might be a larger variety of hebe, but the "twiggy" description seems to belie that.

Do let us know if you have any success !

[squidgey]

thanks for the suggestions.

i'm still not sure what it is but i feel im getting closer!

any more suggestions ?lol :-)

thanks again for everyones help its been much appreciated even though i still dont know what it is! though it probably my poor description thats doing it!