Plant Palettes are quicklists you build inside PlantMaster. Instead of searching through the entire database every time, you search from a list you’ve already put together.
Simplify your selection process with plant palettes.
In landscape design, “plant palette” usually refers to the finalized plant selection for a project.
In PlantMaster, plant palettes mean something different – and once you understand the distinction, you’ll wonder how you searched without them!
A painter doesn’t start with every color ever made. They work from a smaller set on their palette.
Plant palettes in PlantMaster work the same way.
You build your own lists of plants – organize them however it makes sense to you – and use them as filters every time you search.
When you’re ready to search, pick a palette and your results will only show the plants on that list. Everything else stays out of the way.
How plant palettes work:
Your palettes, your rules.
Plant palettes are lists you build yourself in PlantMaster – your favorite trees, nitrogen fixing plants, the best grasses for erosion control, whatever you find yourself searching for again and again.
You decide what goes in each palette and how many palettes you need.
Say you work in Pennsylvania and focus on native plants.
Instead of sifting through the entire database, you create a palette called “My Natives”, fill it with your go-to native plants, and search from that list on every project.
And when you’re ready to start a new project, you can take any palette and turn it instantly into a project – so your quicklist becomes your starting point, not just a filter.
Create whatever lists make sense to you.
You’re not limited to regional selections.
Think about what you search for most – Mediterranean-style plants, deer-resistant shrubs, plants you know your local nursery will have available.
If you find yourself searching for something regularly, it deserves its own palette.
Create as many palettes as you need, and specific as you want.
A few ideas to get you started.
Favorites
Your most-used plants in one place. The ones you come back to on project after project.
Unusual Features
Variegated leaves, interesting bark, foodscaping plants.
Nurseries
Plants your preferred nurseries reliably carry – so you’re only specifying what you can actually get.
Wildlife
Hummingbird plants, pollinator plants, everything that brings bees.
Permaculture
Nitrogen-fixing plants, dynamic accumulators, aromatic pest confusers – categories you define and maintain yourself.
“Besides loving PlantMaster in general, I LOVE the Plant Palettes. I currently have 40+ palettes. I generally create palettes for two things: categories that PlantMaster doesn’t have and categories that PlantMaster may have, but that I may have some disagreements with their categorizations.
For example, I am a Permaculture Designer, so I need to have plant list for nitrogen-fixing plants. The palettes make it easy to add or remove plants from that large category. Deer resistance is a category that PlantMaster has, however, there is a lot of regional variation in this category. It’s a lot easier for me to make my own list than to try to edit all the plants that I think are resistant or not in custom plants that I make. In short, Plant Palettes save me lots of time and keep me organized.”
Damien McAnany, Design Director | Permaculture Artisans
You already know what plants work best. Plant palettes just keep them close.
Any palette can be turned into a project instantly – so the list you’ve been refining becomes the starting point for your next planting plan, and eventually the plant selections your client approves.