Learn the names of more trees and plants

I lost my book on trees. I’m sure I left at my friend’s months ago, but I don’t dare ask him because he’s going through some anxiety problems and I don’t want to add more anxiety to his life by having to look for my book in his phenomenally messy house. I will buy another copy of the same or just get any one from the library and keep renewing it.

Anyway the good news: I became a member of the local botanical gardens, for £20 a year I can visit the place as much as I want. This is quite a bargain considering each individual entry is about £3.50. Now I’m just waiting for the weather to improve to start going there often.

at least one a day

Spent a month camping in France WITHOUT my guides to trees and mushrooms, tut tut. Not that many different trees in the area I was. I saw amazing mushrooms! And the wild flowers were so varied and incredible. Took loads of pictures, perhaps I’ll buy a book on wild flowers… once I saw a very cool one where the flowers were all divided by colour, will look for it next time I’m in the city centre.

Some progress made.
Elm Beginia etc

I’m back from a break in a subtropical area. So many majestic trees – it was wonderful to go for walks with knowledgeable folks. Need to organize my photos with the help of the notes I took and the internet.

Perhaps winter is not the best time of the year to start learning about trees, due to the lack of leaves – but there is still some trees out there easy to identify since they have things attached to them, such as ripe cones (Alder – pictured) or cluster of ripe fruits (Ash). When I mentioned to one friend I was learning about trees he showed me a Silver Birch which is very easy to identify due to it’s whitish bark and light shape. Plane is another one I can identify at this time just looking at the bark. Now when I’m out and about and spot one of these trees I already know by name I feel great, it’s like finding a familiar face in a room full of strangers.

I know the name of the trees if they have fruits attached to them like a cherry, fig, or a banana :) I also know the following:
*Trees: cedar of Lebanon, weeping willow, elder
*Crops: corn, tobacco, rape
*Herbs: borage, rosemary, basil, sage
*Shrubs and Flowers: rose, daisy, tulip, passiflora, echinops (globe thistle), marigold, foxglove, nasturtium, honeysuckle, hollyhock, hydrangea macrophylla, lysimachia punctata, sunflower, snapdragon, forsythia.
Weird but for some plants, I find the latin name easier to remember. I don’t want to be able to identify hundreds of plants, I just want to know the names of the most common plants around me. I think I’m happy with the herbs and flowers I know already. If I learn more the better, but I’ll focus on trees and crops for now. I bought a book “nature guide: trees”. Not sure what to do about the crops.

Got myself a book on trees today (OK, I know it breaks another of my 43 things, but I reckoned this was a reasoned purchase, and so OK….