Posted here for you to download is the first version of a database of the plants used in the Miniature Settings over the past 10 or so years at the Philadelphia Flower Show. The plants in the database came from the official lists that exhibitors submitted for judging as well as other miniature plants that could be used in these settings.
The database has at least one image of each plant and a link to more information. All the links have been tested within a week of the document’s posting but it is always possible that some links have expired. Many of the links are shown as tiny url versions (see tiny url.com) because it saves space and avoids typos.
There are nearly 300 plants in the database so far and I have lists of many more that can be added later. If you have a favorite you want to include, let me know.
This database will be helpful to anyone considering doing a miniature garden. Most of the links are not to merchants selling these plants (although a few are) but a simple search will show which merchants have the plants. I have tried to include a variety of sources for this information but you will see that two of the most frequent and the most excellent sources are the Missouri Botanical Garden and the plant files at Dave’s Garden. Thanks to them and to all the others who share their wonderful plant info.
The images in this database are either photos taken by me or they are images culled from the web. If anyone objects to the use of an image that came from their website, I will remove it. I offer all my images (the ones in the first column) to anyone who would like to use them. I believe this sharing of information will make all our work easier and more interesting.
This is a PDF version of a database made in Filemaker. It is sorted by Latin Name but if you have need for other types of sortings, let me know and I will post those version, too.
The information included the light needed, the water requirement, and the zone when growing outdoors. Unfortunately there is no consistent way that people describe these conditions and it leave a lot of questions: Is part shade the same as indoor bright light? What does average or medium water mean? Not all plants have an outdoor zone listed and finding them all will take some time. I will try to address these discrepancies in future versions but I think it is important just to get the first version of the list up now.
The file is large (82MB) so takes some time to download if you have a slow connection. You will need a PDF reader to view it (for Mac users that is Preview or Adobe Reader). You can use the zoom capabilities of the PDF viewer to zoom in on the photos which are generally good quality. They do not enlarge when you click them.
Flower Show Miniature Settings 
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[…] search) can be misleading. The solution I recommend for miniature plants is to first use the visual database I prepared of the nearly 300 common miniature plants that have been used in the past…. It is a great place for you to start your identifications (and chances are your plant is […]
[…] K of the Miniature Garden Settings exhibit blog has put together a database of the plants used in the exhibit. It’s a work in progress and she has about 300 plants listed so far. I’ve scanned through the […]