On 8/12/2009 2:27 AM, adamjohn wrote:
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David E. Ross
http://www.rossde.com/.

Don't ask "Why is there road rage?" Instead, ask
"Why NOT Road Rage?" or "Why Is There No Such
Thing as Fast Enough?"
http://www.rossde.com/roadrage.html Hi,

I work as a Gardener doing mainly manual jobs such as lawncare, hedge
trimming etc but I am becoming more interested in expanding my
horticultural knowledge.
I allready have a descent knowledge of most of the common garden
plants, however some clients will have gardens full of obscure flowers
which I have no idea what they are and prefer not to reveal my lack of
knowledge by asking. I would like to be able to look them up from
photos but I have found this is very difficult to do with books or
online archives because you only have vague visual characteristics to
go on which can't readily be looked up in an index. Paging through a
book of plants I haven't found to be much help because ussually there
is only one image of each plant which is often either a close up the
foliage or a picture of the whole plant, when I think you really need
both to identify a plant, also they frequently show the plant in full
bloom which it ussually isn't when you are trying to identify it. Also
going through 1000 pages of plants every time you want to identify one
is a bit of a 'needle in a haystack' method.

So my question is, is there any kind of systematic approach to getting
to know plants which enthusiasts/proffesionals use or is it just a case
of 'picking it up' from asking other people, labels in garden centers,
botanical gardens etc. Any useful weblinks or reccomended books would
be most appreciated. Thanks.

Since this will affect your career, I suggest you contact a local
community college and see what kind of horticultural (not agricultural)
classes they have. If you were to complete a series of classes leading
to an associate of arts (AA) degree in a landscape curriculum, it would
definitely improve your ability to get clients and to increase your
fees. Most community college programs allow you to take just one or two
classes a semester while you are also working, and the fees tend to be
quite low.