buying plants online

[roiphil]

General question when you buy plants online do you prefer to a pic of the plant what it would look like when established such as this pic we will call this plant A



Or would you prefer to see a pic of the actual size of plant condition etc as in this pic we will call this plant B



The above one is one my own plants taken from a cutting 2 years ago approx (excuse the weeds) Answers appreciate A or B  or whatever your general preferances may be, the reason for this subject is to try to gain some outside comments as i am hoping to start an online plant sales site and it would be good to know other peoples thoughts on pics

[NightHawk]

We prefer to see what a plant is going to look like when it's fully grown. 

[ideasguy]

Ideally, you need at least two.
On the web, theres LOADS of close ups of single flowers, but very very few of the whole plant. So, theres a niche for photos of the whole plant in my opinion.
A close up can be very misleading. A general view tells a far better story.
How many blooms (sparse, bountiful)? How tall? How broad? whats the foliage like? Are tiny flowers held on top of long stems? Is it basal clump forming, in which case it may be suitable for front of border,allowing a "see through" the flowering stems, so as not to hide plants behind. LOTS of things.

A view of the foliage is also useful in many cases.
A veiw of the plant in combination with other plants is VERY useful.
That makes at least four options.

By the way, we aim to provide at least two in our Catalogs on CD. Thats what drives me on in the hope we get success - interest from the suppliers! That is not easy, unfortunately.

[roiphil]

Thanks for all replies so far, so generally a picture of the plant when full grown and a picture showing the size of and strength of plant you can expect, i have purchased plants online before and they turn up and all they are is a bit of kindling wood but they do eventually grow into what they should be but it would have been nice to have seen a pic of the plant in its currant state

[ideasguy]

You'll never get that, Phil.
Nurseries simply wouldnt have the resources to take a photo of each item in stock and to go yet another step and put that photo on lne would be out of the question.

There are exceptions, in the case of very expensive specimens.
Ive seen photos of the actual plant on Bonsai sites, and on other sites who sell trained plants.
These are many years old, and you will be paying for years of care and attention. Hundreds and into thousands of pounds.