What Color is Your Purple?

Or How to get the most out of your Hometalk Plant identification request!
Have you seen the paint commercial about paint color, the one that has a bunch of guys purpled up, only they are different colors of purple and the lady finally says THAT is my purple so all the other ones leave? Folks come into the nursery wanting to ID a plant in their garden well…a lot. My favorite starts out like this : Them: “I have this bush in my front yard. “ Me: “Do you have apiece of it?” Them: “No” Me: “ Do you have a picture of it”? Them: “No” Me: “ Can you describe it?” Them “ It is green”
The best help naturally is a nice big hunk of the plant in question, not just one tiny itty bitty leaf that may be an old leaf or it could be a new leaf…who could say …because there is only ONE leaf! The greatest help is a chunk of the plant AND a picture of the entire plant…now that is the greatest help. Since you can’t do that here on line here is a ltips of really helpful things you can give us to help with the ID .Well of course number one is a clear picture. Several shots is best First, try to get one of the plant close up so that we can see how the leaves are attached to the stem . Do they line up alternately or opposite? How do the veins radiate out from the center? What does the underside look like? Are there different size leaves in different areas? Are you taking a picture of a baby new leaf emerging or an old mature granny leaf? Is there a bloom or seed that would help identify? Try to take a picture of the flower and how it comes off the stem. Is it a bunch of flowers together, or is it a single bloom? Next try to get a picture of the entire plant in one shot, maybe with something to give it perspective. Is it 6 ft tall or 6 inches tall? Does it have a trunk? If so,take a picture of that too!
Now be prepared to answer questions as to when and where it the picture was taken. Can you tell if the leaves are fuzzy or smooth? Are they round or narrow? Do they make a shape like a trident or are they lobed? Does it look like someone deliberately planted it? If you break a piece of it is there a sticky or milky looking sap? Is it climbing on something? Is there a lot of it around?
The more information you provide, the more reliable the ID can be. I have to tell you, I don’t have the time to key out the plant Id’s here on Hometalk when they are posted, so much of what I can ID is based on my own personal data base memory. :)