Plant ID for the Home Gardener: Fall Edition
How do you tell one plant from another when they look almost exactly alike? Is that a boxwood or a Japanese holly? Which features actually matter when you’re trying to identify a plant? And what do all those botanical names really mean? Plant identification is both an art and a science, and understanding plant nomenclature, taxonomy, and identification can make every gardener more knowledgeable and confident, helping you select the right plants for your landscape and better understand how to care for them.
In this 5-week class, we’ll explore the principles of plant identification. Rather than simply memorizing names, you’ll learn how to look at a plant and understand what you’re seeing. We’ll examine leaves, stems, buds, flowers, fruits, branching patterns, and other characteristics that can help you narrow down an identification, with particular attention to the trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants commonly encountered in the garden and landscape. We’ll also explore how today’s plant identification apps, digital keys, and landscape planning tools can work alongside your knowledge to help you identify plants and determine where they might fit best.
What You’ll Learn
The Fundamentals of Plant Identification — Learn how to observe plants systematically and recognize the characteristics that help distinguish one plant from another.
Plant Anatomy and Morphology — Understand the basic structures and forms of plants and how they can be used as identification clues.
Plant Names and Nomenclature — Learn the basics of botanical naming and taxonomy, and how understanding plant relationships and names can make you a more informed gardener.
Identifying Similar Plants — Discover how to spot the subtle differences between plants that can look remarkably alike at first glance.
Using Modern Identification Tools — Explore plant identification apps, digital keys, and landscape planning tools that can supplement your knowledge and help you identify and select plants.
Why Attend?
Become a Better Plant Observer — Learn what to look for when you encounter an unfamiliar plant, whether in your garden, a nursery, or out in the landscape.
Build Skills, Not Just a Plant List — Develop an approach to identification that you can apply to plants you haven’t encountered before.
Make Sense of Similar Plants — Learn to recognize the details that separate look-alike plants and turn confusion into confidence.
Learn from an Expert — Bryce Lane is an award-winning educator known for making horticulture accessible, engaging, and fun.
This hybrid course is offered both in person at the JC Raulston Arboretum and online via Zoom, giving you the flexibility to attend from anywhere. Rather than heading into the garden, each week we’ll examine plant specimens together in the classroom, giving in-person attendees the ability to handle and examine the samples while our camera gives our online participants a close-up view. All lectures will be recorded and shared with participants each week, so you can revisit the material or catch up if you can’t make every session.