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.

Bryce Lane, former host of In the Garden With Bryce Lane, will lead a five-week class that will 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.

You can attend the course in person at the JC Raulston Arboretum or virtually. To learn more about the course and to register, visit the arboretum website.