Haloedrain,

I'm curious about your reference to the leaves linked to a single mesh. Can you can create a library of parts (aka symbols or instances) and have various "stand-ins" for each part, such as low resolution or alternate color/texture versions?

I am really new to Blender (as in downloaded it but have not installed it yet new ;) ) though I have experience in other 3d modelling and CAD applications.